


Lizzie Saltzman, Matchmaker

by TheNutcase



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Dark Josie, F/F, Hope Mikaelson & Lizzie Saltzman Friendship, Hope is a mess, Hosie, Lizzie is savage but I love her, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 113,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23744734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNutcase/pseuds/TheNutcase
Summary: “You’d better not be imprinting on my sister right now, Fido,” Lizzie scoffed.Immediately, Hope choked on her milkshake, her eyes swerving around to stare at Lizzie.  “Imprinting?!”Or,Lizzie finds the one weak spot in Hope’s armor and won’t stop poking at it.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 1090
Kudos: 2810





	1. Pining

The first time Lizzie noticed, it was an accident. Lizzie walked into the gym, managing to avoid the attention of her sister’s sociopathic alter ego. She spotted Hope sitting on the bleachers, so she plopped down beside her.

Lizzie released a heavy sigh, but Hope didn’t seem to notice her presence. Lizzie glanced at Hope out of the corner of her eye, opting to repeat the sigh a bit louder. She scoffed when Hope didn’t even glance over. She followed Hope’s line of sight to find that what Hope’s eyes were so intently fixated on was, in fact, Hot-Topic-brand Josie.

Hope raised the straw of her milkshake to her mouth without looking down at it. She missed her mouth twice before she managed to trap the straw between her teeth, refusing to let her eyes break away from Josie for even a second. With a raised eyebrow, Lizzie stared at the side of Hope’s face, decidedly unimpressed.

Lizzie didn’t see what was so fascinating to her. Sure, satanic Josie was really creepy, but she wasn’t even doing anything. She was just standing still, watching joylessly as her minions pinned up black banners and streamers. Hope could at least say hello, Lizzie thought to herself.

So, she rather unsubtly cleared her throat to try to attract Hope’s attention. No such luck. Hope just continued to stare, almost more intensely than she had been staring before. Lizzie wondered for a moment if Hope was trying to read Josie’s mind.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. She decided to try her luck at a direct confrontation. “You’d better not be _imprinting_ on my sister right now, Fido,” she scoffed.

Immediately, Hope choked on her milkshake, her eyes swerving around to stare at Lizzie. “ _Imprinting_?!”

For a second, Lizzie looked taken aback for once. Hope Mikaelson was usually the queen of composure – barely anything got to her. She was normally unaffected and ready to fire back with some witty retort.

But the same could be said about Lizzie, so she quickly recovered with a roll of her eyes and a light glare. “As much as I’d love to give you the Twilight universe sex talk right now, Mikaelson, we have bigger fish to fry,” Lizzie snarked. “How are you planning to take down Morticia over there?”

Lizzie noticed the light blush that crept onto Hope’s cheeks, and the way that Hope’s eyes darted around the room to see if anyone might’ve overheard them, almost in a panic. She took note of it for later, in case it might be useful.

“I’m not going to explain my plan to…,” Hope hesitated. “My plan to _ta_ _ke down_ Josie while she’s in the room,” Hope hissed in a whisper, pinning Lizzie with a death glare. The reaction was disproportionately harsh in a way that made Lizzie suspicious.

Lizzie once again rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Listen, I don’t care if you explain your plan to me at all, as long as it works,” Lizzie said. Lizzie glanced at Hope out of the corner of her eye. The still-present blush prompted her to try her luck with another snarky comment. “I just want to make sure that your not-so-little crush isn’t going to stop you from coming up with one.”

Hope’s blush intensified, and she stared at Lizzie with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. “My _crush_?!”

Lizzie was tempted to laugh directly in Hope’s face. She’d never seen Hope be so reactive before. In fact, she rarely saw Hope speak with much feeling at all.

Realizing that she must’ve struck a nerve, Lizzie controlled herself and opted to keep poking. She maintained her disinterested act by raising her hand out in front of her to look at her nails. “Oh, please,” Lizzie said. “Don’t tell me you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed how you look at her.”

Suddenly, Hope looked like the only thing she wanted to do was escape this conversation at all costs. She shifted in her seat for a few moments, clearly uncomfortable and struggling to respond. “I…,” she started, trailing off. She averted her gaze, obviously nervous. “Whatever, Lizzie,” she muttered, defeated. She grabbed her bag off the floor and got up abruptly to flee the room.

As Hope descended from the bleachers, Lizzie saw Dark Josie turn away from her minions. Josie’s eyes sparkled, almost as if she’d heard their conversation. She watched Hope walk toward the exit with a knowing smirk on her lips. Hope ducked her head and walked a little faster. It reminded Lizzie of a dog tucking its tail between its legs.

Lizzie felt a grin grow across her face. _Interesting_ , she thought to herself. She’d stumbled upon something that guaranteed her the upper hand, and she intended to exploit it as much as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic. The first chapter is a bit short. I'm not sure where this came from, but I guess this is how I'll be coping with quarantine.


	2. Censoring

“Alright, Mikaelson,” Lizzie called, far too loudly for a library. “Listen up.”

Hope looked up from the book she was staring at to find Lizzie making a beeline toward her. Somehow, she hadn’t heard the girl approaching, despite her recent paranoia. 

Hope had been successfully avoiding Lizzie all day. She had even positioned herself on the side of the table that allowed her to keep an eye on the door, thinking that maybe she’d be able to duck behind a bookshelf if she caught sight of the girl.

She refused to admit to herself why.

MG was trailing behind Lizzie like her shadow, carrying multiple shopping bags. Hope rolled her eyes. “Hello to you, too, Lizzie,” she drawled sarcastically. “Hi, MG.”

“Whatever,” Lizzie dismissed with a wave of her hand as MG waved more politely behind her. “We need to talk.”

Remembering how her last conversation with the siphoner had gone, Hope didn’t find that proposition appealing. She instinctively deflected from it before she could think. “Did you go shopping?”

Lizzie squinted at her. “I forgot how much you like to ask questions that have obvious answers,” Lizzie said.

Hope cocked her head to the side, shooting Lizzie a weak glare. “I don’t see how it’s obvious. It doesn’t make sense that you would go shopping. We’re dealing with a crisis, you know.”

Lizzie looked at Hope like she was stupid, pulling out a chair across from her and plopping onto it gracelessly. “Yeah, exactly,” Lizzie started. “It could be the pivotal moment of our lives any second now, Hope. I’m not going to be caught wearing clothes I’ve owned for months.” 

Hope blinked. She marveled at how Lizzie’s absurdity was so consistent that she wasn’t even surprised by it anymore. Her current stress made it difficult to find it as amusing as she typically would.

When Lizzie realized that Hope wasn’t planning to respond to her statement, she continued to talk. “Besides, what exactly are you doing in this time of crisis? Reading Moby Dick?”

Hope sighed. In all honesty, she was mostly here as an excuse to avoid the very person she was speaking to, but she wasn't about to admit that. “I’m researching, actually,” Hope muttered, looking back down at the book to try to indicate that she wasn’t interested in continuing the conversation.

Lizzie scoffed, clearly not taking the hint. “Unless that’s Josie’s diary, I doubt it’ll be helpful,” she spat. 

Hope’s expression didn’t falter, but she knew on some level that Lizzie was correct. Lizzie was usually correct, which Hope found extremely annoying, and she struggled to keep that annoyance out of her voice. “Well, unless you’re about to hand over her diary, there’s not much else I can do,” Hope snapped.

Sensing the tension and feeling awkward hovering off to the side, MG stepped in. He placed the shopping bags on the table next to them and sat beside Lizzie. “Okay, well, what are we researching then?” he asked with a good-natured smile, trying to gear the conversation toward something more productive.

Hope snapped the book closed almost violently, startling MG. Lizzie, however, didn’t flinch and just maintained her judgmental stare. “Nope, Lizzie’s right. It’s pointless,” Hope admitted sharply. Hope’s eyes were fixated on the book cover, every muscle in her body tense. “God, I feel so _useless_ ,” she growled, almost as if she were talking to herself. “How am I supposed to keep up when I don’t even know Josie’s plan? She’s playing chess. I hate chess.”

Lizzie gasped, affronted. “Hope Mikaelson, are you telling me that we don’t have a plan?”

Hope’s eyes flew up to glare at the blonde. “You know what, Lizzie, it isn’t easy to come up with a plan every other day,” Hope hissed. “Maybe you should try to come up with one for once.” This whole Josie-going-evil thing was clearly taking a toll on her.

“Well, I, for one, like chess,” MG interrupted, trying desperately to diffuse the tension between the two girls once again. “Maybe I can help.”

Hope’s glare didn’t falter, so Lizzie returned one of her own. Then Lizzie smirked dangerously, her head tilting to the side. “Well, I’m glad that you’re on the case, too, MG,” Lizzie began, without breaking eye contact with Hope. “Because I think that Hope’s desire to _canoodle_ with my sister might be getting in the way.”

Hope’s glare disappeared in an instant. Her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. “I… what…,” Hope sputtered frantically, looking thoroughly shocked that Lizzie would even suggest such a thing. She leaned back slightly in her chair, presumably to get farther away from Lizzie. “ _Canoodle?!_ ”

Lizzie sighed, looking at her with a mocking sort of pity. “See? Whenever I mention your Josie crush, all you can do is gay panic and repeat the keywords of my sentences,” she claimed matter-of-factly. “Pull yourself together, Mikaelson. We need your monster-fighting powers, not your _feelings_.”

There was a long pause, in which Hope just stared at Lizzie with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, frozen like a deer in headlights. Hope tried to will away the heat of the blush she could feel forming on her cheeks, but she could ultimately do nothing but look down to try to hide her face. It didn’t work.

MG seemed almost equally shocked, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two girls slowly like he was afraid to provoke them. His brow furrowed. He looked like he was trying and failing to solve a very difficult Calculus problem. “Um…,” he started carefully. “I’m sorry, what?”

Hope snapped out of it, seeming to remember that MG was in the room. This only amplified her mortification. She clenched her jaw. “MG,” she hissed through her teeth. “Do you mind going to get me some water or something?”

MG was still looking back and forth between the girls as if they had just revealed to him that they were aliens, but Hope’s tone left absolutely no room for argument. “Uh… yeah. Sure,” he replied, standing up slowly. He walked swiftly out the door, shutting it behind him.

The second the door was closed, Hope stood up so abruptly that her chair fell onto the floor behind her. Her hands slammed on the table. “Lizzie, what is wrong with you?!” she demanded, exasperated.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, looking completely unaffected. “Look, Hope,” she drawled. “I will continue to mock you for your own good until you admit that you are obsessed with Josie and cut Frodo Baggins loose already.”

Hope’s eyelid twitched. “You are so infuriating!” she yelled, ripping her hands off the table and flailing them in the air for emphasis. “Don’t say things like that when people are around to hear you!” Hope’s nostrils flared almost comically, before she glanced down and grumbled, “Just stop saying things altogether, for that matter.”

Lizzie scoffed, standing up herself. “Well, _excuse me_. I guess I didn’t get the memo that my Dad promoted you to have the authority to enforce _censorship_ around here,” Lizzie rolled her eyes dramatically. 

For a second, Hope looked like she was barely holding herself back from straight up tackling the blonde. But instead she just clenched and unclenched her fists, vibrating with some sort of embarrassed rage. 

Then Hope covered her face with her hands and took a deep, labored breath. At first, Lizzie figured she must be counting to ten, as Lizzie was taught to do in her anger management classes. But then the weak tremor in Hope’s voice made it clear that she was just trying to hide. “Lizzie, please, just _stop_ ,” Hope whined, borderline begging. 

Lizzie struggled to hold herself back from bursting out cackling now that Hope was temporarily unable to see her expression. She forced her face to fall back into static indifference when Hope pulled her hands away from her eyes and looked at her again.

Lizzie almost took pity on her and backed off, but she was having way too much fun. “Why, are you worried that word will get back to Lord Josiemort?” Lizzie sassed. “Because honestly, Hope, any sort of progress from this _festering pining_ would be a good thing.”

Hope steadied herself with a deep breath. “Listen. The last thing I need is for Josie’s alter ego to know – ,” Hope cut herself off, clearing her throat before correcting herself. “The last thing I need is for Josie’s alter ego to think that I have a thing for her.”

Lizzie gave Hope a look, topped with a raised eyebrow. “Hope, everyone knows. Except for you, apparently. It’s impressive, really, how _not_ self-aware you are.”

Hope scoffed, choosing to ignore the panic that was sparked by Lizzie’s claim that _everyone knows_. She opted to try to get some control over the situation. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Lizzie just rolled her eyes again, infuriatingly calm. Hope wished they’d get stuck like that. “You’re just salty because we both know that your feelings are your only weakness,” Lizzie said with indisputable certainty.

Hope’s jaw dropped and she froze, shell-shocked. She hovered on the edge of saying something for a bit too long, a few amorphous sounds falling from her mouth without forming words. Then she snapped her mouth shut and shook her head frantically like she was trying to snap herself out of it. Her eyes fixated on the ceiling in rage like she was blaming God for this. “I… _fuck!_ You are so annoying!” Defeated, Hope furiously stormed out of the room.

As soon as the door slammed closed, Lizzie couldn’t contain herself. She laughed so hard that she just about collapsed on the floor.

* * *

Hope all but slammed into MG as she charged around a corner, coming to a screeching halt. A few drops of water spilled out of the cup MG was holding and landed on his shirt.

Hope apologized profusely, her fury quickly collapsing into awkward averted eye contact. 

MG held the cup out in front of him to offer it to her. Hope stared at it blankly for a second. She grabbed it and downed it all in one gulp, then pushed the cup back into MG’s still-outstretched hand. 

Hope cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck, still refusing to look in his eyes. “Thanks,” she muttered quickly, and then she ducked around him to keep scurrying down the hall.

“Well, that was a bit much,” MG murmured to himself, turning to bring the cup back to where it came from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to have too much fun with this.


	3. Fighting

Hope maintained eye contact with Josie around the sparks of the spells clashing violently in the air between them. Josie’s eyes were a deep black, and her smirk read like she was finally getting everything she’d ever wanted. Hope was taken aback by Josie’s relentless determination. She was shocked to realize that being on the receiving end of that look gave her a weird thrill.

 _Oh, shit,_ Hope thought to herself. _I’m screwed._ Hope’s focus faltered and Josie pulsed forward, knocking Hope off of her feet and sending her to land on her back with a thud.

Hope stayed down for a second, winded and just generally dreading whatever was about to happen. She felt the Necromancer kneel next to her, too close, beginning his mocking count down. She wished she could just light him on fire, Josie-style, but she had to settle for a furious glare and a snarky remark for the time being.

“This isn’t any fun,” Josie snarled. “You’re not even fighting back.” Josie paced back and forth in the ring in front of her, irritated that the tribrid wasn’t providing her with the fight she’d clearly been fantasizing about. Hope noted that her eyes were calculating, like she was trying to think of a way to convince Hope to fight mercilessly. Hope knew that there was nothing that Josie could say to convince her to fight that way. She was almost comforted by the thought that she could never hurt Josie, until she realized that her restraint probably didn’t bode well for her own safety.

Hope covered up her budding anxiety with a heated glare. “Neither are you. I know that you’re in there, Josie,” Hope spat, somewhere between a plea and a command. Hope was practically begging Josie to snap out of it at this point - Hope was pretty certain that this wouldn't end well any other way.

“Give it up, Hope,” Josie snapped furiously. Hope rose to her feet while Josie hissed out a particularly energetic insult, clearly enraged by the attempt to coax out her good side. Then, Hope found herself having to dodge a fire spell that snapped one of the corner posts in half. Hope flashed back to the time when Josie had almost barbecued her for flinging Penelope into a wall.

Hope noted that things weren’t exactly going to plan.

Reflexively, Hope landed a kick against Josie’s hip that launched her into the opposite corner of the ring. Josie glanced up without standing, but Hope saw that she barely looked phased by the impact at all. Hope tried to convince herself that this was because Dark Josie was particularly sturdy, and not because Hope had executed the move as gently as possible.

Hope stared her down and pleaded for the real Josie to come out.

Hope was almost as surprised as everyone else when it worked.

Josie screamed for everyone to shut up. Hope wished that she’d tell everyone to leave while she was at it. Everyone and their grandma had shown up, but their voyeurism wasn’t helpful at all. Hope thought she’d have much more luck getting through to Josie one-on-one.

For a few seconds, Hope was staring at the real Josie again. She felt a flood of relief.

It was short lived, though, because Dark Josie quickly got control again and returned with all of her sass.

“I don’t even think she likes you,” Dark Josie taunted. Hope would’ve rolled her eyes if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation. She didn’t doubt for a second that the real Josie cared for her, in spite of everything they’d been through.

Hope was glad to know that her Josie was still in there somewhere, at any rate.

With the whisper of a spell, Hope found herself floating in the air. Josie casually walked closer to her and allowed Hope's body to descend through the air until they were face-to-face.

Hope was frozen, only able to move her face. Josie looked like she was enjoying having the upper hand way too much.

“Why are you even fighting me?” Josie asked with a mocking drawl. “Wouldn’t it be so much more fun to join me?”

Hope recoiled in shock as much as she could manage to in her suspended state, clearly not having even considered that as an option. _Because it isn’t,_ a mantra surged in Hope’s head to remind her.

Josie grinned when Hope failed to respond, having expected Hope to vehemently shoot her down with some witty retort as soon as the question left her mouth. She circled around Hope slowly like a predator inspecting its prey. She leaned over Hope’s shoulder from behind. “We could own the world together,” Josie whispered seductively into Hope’s ear. “Part of you is already tempted. I can feel it. I bet you’ve never felt a pull to join a _monster_ before.”

Hope opened her mouth to reply, her brow furrowed, but she found that she had no clue what to say. She knew that she should reject this offer pointblank without hesitation, but she was struggling to even string a sentence together. Hope told herself that it must just be shock, even as an annoying trickle of doubt reared its head in the back of her mind.

“But you’ve never felt that kind of pull toward anyone, have you, Hope?” Dark Josie pondered aloud, her voice dripping with an obviously fake innocence. She pulled back, spinning around Hope to look directly into her eyes again. Josie cocked her head to the side and let out a dark chuckle. “Well, except for little miss Josie Saltzman.”

“Josie, stop,” Hope whispered, her voice sounding much weaker than she intended. Hope refused to admit that some small part of her was urging her to just do it, to drop everything – to just raise hell in the world instead of continuing to be suffocated by the responsibility to save it all the time.

Because, no, she absolutely could not do that – that would be insane. She was one of the _good guys_ , for fuck’s sake. She was supposed to save the day; that was her M.O., after all. Today was no different. The students still needed her – hell, the _world_ still needed her. It didn’t matter that Josie looked so pretty when she was on a warpath. It didn’t matter that Hope was sick and tired of having to be the hero all the time. It was absolutely _not_ the time to have a sudden lapse in moral judgement.

Hope cleared her throat and nervously swallowed. For a second, she wondered if Josie had managed to cast some kind of mind-scrambling spell without her noticing.

Josie’s eyes scanned Hope’s face intently, almost as though she were studying her. The grin had fallen from her face, and now she just looked deadly serious for once. “What do you think would happen if I killed you, Hope?” Josie asked flatly. “If I just siphoned from you until there was nothing left?”

Hope’s gaze faltered, and she felt a wave of fear course through her body. The way Josie was staring at her made her uncomfortable. It was like Josie wanted to dissect and map out her mind.

“Do you think you’ll still be able to control yourself when you wake up?” Josie asked with genuine curiosity. “Or will you drain every last drop of blood in the room for me if I ask you to?”

All of a sudden, Hope realized how much danger she was in. She’d never thought that there was a real risk of Josie killing her, but Josie didn’t seem to be bluffing. Hope realized, with a start, that she should probably prepare herself to become a vampire.

“Should we make a bet? I think I’ll be able to coax out your dark side just as easily as the old Josie could coax out your soft side,” Josie drawled, the patronizing tone leaking back into her voice.

The audience shifted, a nervous murmur spreading through the crowd. Hope’s unusual reluctance to speak had most of the students questioning whether she was going to shock everyone and suddenly side with Dark Josie, despite everything. A few students even slipped out through the doors quietly, not wanting to stick around to find out. Hope failed to notice, completely enchanted by Josie, unable to look away.

Josie took a step toward Hope. Hope felt like they were too close. She clenched her jaw. Josie only smirked and reached out, wrapping her hand firmly around Hope’s throat. Hope began to feel the slow pull of her magic leaving her body.

“This might hurt a little bit,” Josie murmured distractedly while her hand glowed red against Hope’s throat. “It might hurt for you, anyway. I’m pretty sure it’ll feel great for me. Don’t worry, I’ll be quick. It’ll be over before you know it.”

Hope felt weirdly, irrationally comforted by Josie’s words, even as her vision started to blur around the edges and the pull became stronger. Hope figured that if she had to die somehow, this would be the best way to go. She knew she should try to fight back somehow, but she opted to just close her eyes.

The two were interrupted as the doors to the gym slammed open to reveal the one and only Lizzie Saltzman. “Hello, sister dearest,” Lizzie drawled as she began to take long strides toward the ring without hesitation. The crowd cheered for her, and Hope remembered that they were there.

Josie’s head cocked to the side. She looked very annoyed about being interrupted, even though her whole plan for the night had been to face off with Lizzie in the first place. She dropped her hand from Hope’s throat, and she dropped the levitation spell with it. Hope’s body fell a few inches through the air, and she stumbled when her feet made contact with the floor. Her hand instinctively rose up to rub at her neck, as she snapped out of the trance she’d been in.

“I’m ready to absorb Morticia now,” Lizzie said sarcastically. “Assuming that you two are done with your foreplay.”

Hope’s eyes widened at Lizzie’s suggestive comment. She sputtered and blushed in a way that Lizzie was beginning to find familiar. Hope’s eyes swerved toward the bleachers in a panic. Then she trained her wide eyes on Lizzie with a slight pout on her lips, feeling betrayed. “Lizzie, the entire school is listening, are you serious?” Hope whined quietly, trying to keep her voice down.

“Zip it, Hope,” Lizzie snapped. “You did this to yourself. Need I remind you that you are able to disable just about any _actual_ monster, yet you become completely incompetent as soon as you make eye contact with my sister?”

Hope was even more mortified when she turned to see Dark Josie staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Josie actually looked surprised for a moment, but she quickly recovered. Her eyes twinkled with amusement. She smirked and shot Hope a wink.

Hope felt like she was literally on fire. She had to stare at her feet for an awkward moment while she tried to calm herself. “Alright, well, I’ll just go stand in the corner and never make eye contact with anyone again, I guess,” she mumbled resentfully, shooting Lizzie a smoldering glare.

True to her word, Hope walked to a corner of the ring without raising her eyes from the floor. She was too afraid to look toward the bleachers. Both of the Saltzman twins watched her go with a mischievous glint in their eyes. Lizzie grinned. Dark Josie apparently found Hope’s embarrassment equally amusing.

“Alright, sis. Let’s do this,” Lizzie demanded, rolling up her sleeves.

Hope, of course, had to look up from her shoes to watch the drama of the Merge unfold. She later was very glad that she’d managed to pull together a Plan B. As she wandered Josie’s fairytale subconscious, she prayed that Josie’s light side wouldn’t share Dark Josie’s memories of the Merge, if only to spare herself the humiliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos and comments! They make my day.


	4. Head-Diving

Lizzie sat cross-legged on her bed with a notebook open on her lap. She was journaling. She’d learned in therapy that it was supposed to help her process feelings or something. She had plenty of feelings, having been murdered by her twin’s alter ego only a couple days ago.

Lizzie recalled the weird therapy simulation that had sparked Josie’s mental break. She huffed, starting to write about how ridiculous it was that the school only had one counselor. With all the trauma that everyone around here had been through, they should really have a minimum of two per person.

Lizzie was so used to chaos being the default that she found it difficult to not minimize the fact that Dark Josie had _literally killed her_ , albeit temporarily. Dying was starting to lose its meaning around here, since everyone was doing it so often. She couldn’t blame the recently recovered, original-flavor Josie for her death; her twin had been possessed by some really potent black magic. Still, it was a whole lot to deal with.

Lizzie was in the middle of writing down these thoughts when the door burst open. Josie came into the room too quickly for there to not be some new crisis happening. Lizzie rolled her eyes at the intrusion, putting her journal to the side while she scooted to the edge of the bed. She prepared herself to problem-solve for whatever new monster crisis Josie was going to brief her about.

“Should’ve known better than to think I might actually have some free time for self-care,” Lizzie snarked.

Josie ignored her, seeming to vibrate with some kind of nervous energy. “Lizzie, I need your help,” she said, breathless. Josie ran her fingers through her hair roughly, a nervous tick of hers. “I think Hope might still be in my head.”

After staring blankly for a moment, Lizzie scowled. “Well, excellent. I’m glad to hear that the obsession is mutual,” Lizzie said sarcastically, turning to pick up her journal again.

Josie’s brow furrowed, seeming to be taken aback by Lizzie’s reply, the panic in her eyes ebbing away to make way for her confusion. “Well, I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but this is serious, Lizzie,” Josie continued with renewed determination. “You know how Hope hasn’t woken up?”

Lizzie sighed. “Hard to forget that, with how much you’ve been brooding about it,” she stated absentmindedly, opening her journal and beginning to write again. _My sister’s meltdown has done nothing to alleviate her crush,_ Lizzie scribbled down, the sentence in no way related to the paragraph preceding it.

Josie continued, choosing to ignore that her twin was barely paying attention. “Well, I remembered that evil-me turned her into stone right before I fought with… myself. I think Hope might still be frozen where we left her,” Josie concluded, her tone trying to convey that this revelation was extremely important. When Lizzie didn’t even glance up, Josie’s determined gaze faltered. “In my subconscious,” Josie clarified tentatively, as though Lizzie might’ve already forgotten about the week’s events.

Lizzie looked up from her notebook again, unimpressed. “Let me get this straight,” Lizzie started. “You ditched Hope in your amygdala, and now you want me to go in there and dig her out for you?”

Josie almost flinched, her lips twisting into a frustrated pout. “Uh, well, that’s kind of a gross way to phrase it, and I don’t know why you think my subconscious is located in my amygdala, but yes,” she replied, with no small amount of sass. Josie sighed, barely restraining her irritation at her sister's casual attitude. “Please, Lizzie. You’re the only one I trust to do this.”

Lizzie scoffed. “Why can’t you do it yourself?” she asked.

Josie huffed impatiently. “Because,” she said. “I don’t have my magic.”

“You _what?!_ ” Lizzie yelled, standing up quickly and stepping away from the bed. “Did the Necromancer take _everything?!_ ”

“No!” Josie yelped, scrambling to calm Lizzie down. “I just temporarily stored it elsewhere.”

Lizzie squinted at Josie, like she couldn’t imagine why anyone would ever do such a thing. “Okay, well. Un-store it then,” Lizzie suggested, as though the solution were obvious.

Josie gave Lizzie an exasperated look. “Lizzie, I’m detoxing,” Josie explained.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Jo, I thought that after all of this you would’ve learned that you can’t just compartmentalize all of your problems.”

“Lizzie, please,” Josie begged, her patience wearing thin. “We can talk about this later. Right now, I _really_ need to make sure Hope’s okay.” Josie fiddled with her thumbs. She looked close to tears. “I’m worried,” she whispered quietly.

Lizzie realized that she wasn’t going to get out of this. “Ugh, oh, God. Fine. Don’t torment me by talking about your feelings or whatever, I’ll do it.”

Josie beamed with relief, pulling Lizzie into an unexpected hug. Lizzie stiffened, the hug ending before she could react. “Thank you, thank you so much,” Josie said gratefully. “Let’s go find MG.”

Josie dragged Lizzie out of their room by the wrist, not noticing Lizzie’s exaggerated eye roll.

* * *

As soon as Hope glitched back into her organic form, a spell burst from her lips – presumably one she had been intending to use against Dark Josie right before she was turned into stone. Lizzie had to dive out of the way to narrowly avoid a massive fireball, tripping over her feet and landing gracelessly in a seated position up against the wall.

“Well, good to see you, too, Hope,” Lizzie snapped sarcastically from her position on the ground. She looked rather displeased. “Could you maybe try not to start a forest fire in Josie’s weird-ass subconscious?”

Hope looked severely disoriented for a moment, not seeming to register what Lizzie had said. Her eyes darted around frantically, probably expecting Dark Josie to leap out at her. 

Lizzie huffed, rising to her feet. Hope seemed to finally register that Lizzie was there. “Where’s Josie?” Hope demanded, still tense and panicking.

Lizzie side-eyed Hope with thinly guised resentment while she brushed the last of the dirt off of her shorts. “You mean _Josie_ Josie or her chaotic evil body snatcher?”

Hope glared so intensely that Lizzie actually felt a trickle of fear for once. “Lizzie, stop being a bitch for five seconds and just _tell me_. What happened? Is Josie okay?”

"Calm down, Xena,” Lizzie scoffed. “Your damsel in distress is fine.”

“Oh, thank God,” Hope said, the tension draining from her body as she released a heavy sigh. “It worked,” she whispered with a relieved smile, seemingly talking to herself. 

Lizzie blinked. “Yes, your plan was effective, but you can’t claim that it was non-invasive,” Lizzie sassed, shooting Hope an unimpressed look. “And by the way, Mikaelson, you’d better have dumped Frodo before going _inside_ my sister, or I swear to God…,” Lizzie trailed off menacingly.

Hope’s eyes snapped open and she looked absolutely horrified. “What?! I…,” Hope trailed off herself. “Lizzie, that’s inappropriate!” Hope tried to cover up her blush with a weak glare.

Lizzie pursed her lips. “What’s _inappropriate_ is the fact that I keep having to watch you make out with Pillsbury Clay Boy, when we all know that your heart belongs to someone else,” Lizzie insisted shamelessly.

Hope gaped, not knowing how to respond. She said the first thing that came to mind, just to break the silence. “Landon and I do not _make out_ in public,” she hissed through her teeth, seething. She immediately realized that it wasn’t a very clever reply.

“Well, maybe there’s a reason for that,” Lizzie drawled patronizingly, like she was talking to a child. Hope had an unpleasant flashback to Dark Josie’s default condescending tone.

Hope pressed her tongue into her cheek, almost vibrating with irritation. “Lizzie, that doesn’t even make sense!” she growled. “Besides, what are you trying to say? That you’d prefer to see me making out with your sister?” Hope’s blush intensified the second the words left her mouth, but she tried to ignore it.

“Ew, gross!” Lizzie immediately exclaimed, recoiling from Hope like she had said something absolutely appalling. She quickly recovered and continued. “No, Hope, I do _not_ want to see that, but at least it would be easier to stomach than your relationship with Frodo.”

Hope took a deep breath. “I care about Landon,” she said dumbly, irritated at herself for being unable to muster up a decent comeback. She crossed her arms over her chest when she realized that the argument was spiraling out of her control.

“Need I remind you that you chose to save us over him,” Lizzie stated simply, infuriatingly aloof.

“Because it was the right thing to do!” Hope yelped, scandalized.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Well, if Josie had been in his place you could’ve avoided having to make that choice altogether. She can clearly fend for herself, if this week’s power trip is anything to go by,” Lizzie paused, thinking. “Unlike poultry boy, whose only power is to come back as a fire baby.”

Hope pinched the bridge of her nose in her frustration. She chose not to acknowledge Lizzie’s comment. “Listen, not that it’s any of your business, but Landon and I broke up last night,” Hope spat, apparently not realizing that she had been trapped here for more than a day. “But it was _not_ because of Josie.”

Lizzie snorted. “Oh, sure, it wasn’t.”

Hope cocked her head in disbelief. “Have you ever even heard of empathy?!”

“Oh, come on,” Lizzie whined dramatically, leaning against the stone wall. “Am I supposed to pretend it’s not obvious that you’ve been on the rocks with Landon and pining over Josie ever since you glitched back into existence?”

Hope’s eyelid twitched with irritation. “Our breakup had nothing to do with Josie,” Hope repeated firmly.

“It had _everything_ to do with Josie, whether you want to admit to that or not,” Lizzie said haughtily. “Face it, Hope, Landon is a whiny bitch and Josie is a badass bitch. Your choice was obvious and only a matter of time.”

Hope looked away, frustrated beyond belief. “For the last time, it wasn’t about Josie,” Hope groaned. She tried to change the topic, asking, “Why are we even talking about this? Can’t you lay off for once and just face your post-resurrection existential crisis like a normal person?”

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest to mirror Hope. “As tempted as I am to chase after that red herring, we can address my existential crisis after you admit to your sexuality crisis.”

“I am _not_ having a crisis!” Hope yelled desperately. Lizzie allowed the moment to extend as she stared at Hope, unimpressed, urging Hope to realize how unconvincing that display was. “Okay, fine, Lizzie,” Hope snapped after a beat, uncrossing her arms and throwing them in the air to show how fed up she was. “What do you want me to say? That I’m attracted to Josie? How is admitting that going to help anyone in any way?”

Lizzie stared at Hope and slowly allowed a mischievous grin to spread across her face, pleased at how she’d managed to get the tribrid so riled up. “Hope, I’m not mocking you to be helpful, I’m mocking you to entertain myself,” Lizzie stated simply. Hope squinted at her in disbelief. “Just to make it clear, I am indifferent to whether or not you end up successfully wooing my sister.”

There was a long beat of silence as Hope just stared at Lizzie with slightly parted lips and a look in her eyes that screamed ‘ _I should’ve expected this.’_ “Alright, Lizzie, it’s always good to know where you stand,” she finally said sharply. “If you’re so indifferent to it, maybe you should _stop mentioning it_.”

“No,” Lizzie replied. “Watching you squirm is fun.”

Hope huffed. “Is this a joke to you? This is not a joke to me.”

“Oh, whatever. You’re such a drama queen,” Lizzie complained, finally pushing herself off of the wall and uncrossing her arms. She ignored the dark chuckle that came out of Hope's mouth in response to the audacity of _Lizzie Saltzman_ , of all people, calling her a drama queen. “Come on, let’s just get the hell out of here. I don’t wanna take a wrong turn and end up having to grow old with you in Josie’s medulla oblongata.” Lizzie spun on her heel, walking away dramatically even though there was not actually a physical exit to walk to.

Hope was the one to roll her eyes for once as she moved to follow. “Do you even know what that is or are you just name-dropping the coolest sounding brain word?”

Hope took one last look around Josie’s subconscious, wondering if she’d ever get the chance to see it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Hope you all like this chapter. Thanks for all the support!


	5. Reuniting

Hope jerked awake with a gasp. She sat up ramrod straight after a beat, but immediately regretted it. Her vision flooded with black dots, and suddenly she noticed that she had a pounding headache. For a second she debated with herself, but she decided that it was probably best to lay back down and avoid passing out.

She breathed in deeply through her mouth. The black dots were fading, but her headache was still raging. She raised her hands to her face and rubbed her temples, urging the pain to stop. Apparently, bodies didn’t do too well when they were rendered unconscious for multiple days without food or water – even tribrid bodies.

Of course, Hope didn’t know that she’d been out of commission for more than a day. But it probably wouldn’t have mattered if she had known – she could barely form a coherent thought. Even when the headache settled into a dull throb, she couldn’t figure out where she was.

The door burst open, then, and Hope hissed and covered her eyes to shield herself from the light. She was in pain, confused, and just all around not having a good time. After a beat, she let herself glance at the doorway. Alaric was all of a sudden hovering over her, the light behind him coming across like a weird aura. Lizzie and MG were perched in the doorway, staring. MG looked concerned, but Lizzie looked like she wouldn’t mind being anywhere else. Hope recognized the backdrop behind them and deduced with some difficulty that she was in the secret closet in Alaric’s office.

She still couldn’t, for the life of her, figure out what the hell she was doing there. “Why am I in the closet?” Hope groaned, her voice sounding distant and cloudy to her own ears.

A short laugh burst out of Lizzie’s mouth. “Don’t beat yourself up about it, Hope, everyone comes out at their own pace,” Lizzie replied, with great joy. 

Hope wasn’t even able to process the meaning of the comment because she felt too disoriented. MG sent Lizzie a very unthreatening glare. For his part, Alaric looked hopelessly confused.

MG offered Hope a water bottle. She snatched it from him, tearing the cap off and chugging it frantically. Lizzie laughed again, thinking to herself that Hope looked a lot like a hamster.

It was quiet for a few seconds, while everyone awkwardly watched Hope drain the water bottle with impressive speed. When it was empty, Hope dropped it carelessly and messily wiped her mouth across her sleeve. She already felt a bit stronger, managing to prop herself up on her elbows without provoking the black dots.

“Where’s Josie?” Hope asked without thinking. She flinched when she saw Lizzie shoot her a knowing look and a raised eyebrow. Maybe that shouldn’t have been her second question, Hope thought to herself. She tried to ignore the gnawing disappointment in her gut, slightly hurt that Josie wasn’t by her side when she woke up.

Alaric replied, looking none the wiser, while Lizzie snickered to herself and MG just awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “She waited around for you guys to wake up, but it took a while. She got nervous,” Alaric explained. “She said something about how you’d be hungry when you woke up and left to make you a sandwich.”

Hope’s mouth watered at the mention of a sandwich. “That’s sweet of her,” Hope said with a dreamy smile on her face. She couldn’t figure out if she was dreaming about Josie or the sandwich.

“Here,” MG said with a kind smile, holding out an apple. Hope grabbed it just as violently as she’d grabbed the water bottle, biting into it like a wild animal. Her eyes snapped closed in pleasure.

Once again, everyone watched awkwardly as she devoured the apple. MG looked almost scared by the ferocity with which she ripped it apart. 

She felt much better when she finished it, and she sat up fully, swinging her legs to plant her feet on the floor. “No one answered my question, why am I in the closet?” she asked, glancing down as she rubbed at the stiff muscles around her shoulder.

Alaric cleared his throat. “It’s a long story, but we had to hide you from the Necromancer’s eye so that Dark Josie wouldn’t suspect anything,” Alaric explained again, averting eye contact.

Hope’s eyes darted up to scan his face when she registered the edge in his voice, sensing that something was wrong. The corner of her lip twitched down when he wouldn’t meet her eye. “What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded bluntly.

Alaric seemed uncomfortable. “Well, you missed a lot,” he said vaguely. Hope saw MG shifting uncomfortably on his feet out of the corner of her eye. Lizzie still looked as bored as ever.

Hope’s eyes narrowed. “Spit it out.” 

Alaric gulped. “Well, first of all, Landon died,” Alaric began, simultaneously too casual for it to be serious and too hesitant for it to be unimportant. 

“Landon dies every other day,” Hope said slowly, waiting for the catch.

“Right,” Alaric responded. “But he was killed with the golden arrow this time.”

Hope froze. “What?” she whispered, turning white.

“Before you freak out, Hope, I don’t think it’s permanent,” Alaric said quickly. “I was worried it might be at first, but I made a deal with the Necromancer and he swore to bring Landon back, with an unbreakable covenant spell. When Landon didn’t wake up, I thought the Necromancer might’ve found a loophole somehow, but then I realized that Landon’s body hasn’t been decomposing at all. And MG said he can hear a really faint heartbeat. Dorian is looking into a lead, he thinks he may have found a way we can bring him back.”

Hope sighed in relief, deflating, but then she thought for a moment and tensed again. “What did you agree to give to the Necromancer in return?” she asked slowly.

Alaric looked like that was the question he had been dreading. “We had to let him harness Josie’s power,” he muttered, almost like he didn’t want Hope to decipher what he was saying.

Hope’s eyes flashed gold. “What do you mean the Necromancer _harnessed_ her power?” Hope growled furiously, rising to her feet with a threatening glare. 

Lizzie chimed in, boredom seeping into her voice despite the obvious tension in the room. “If you ask me, we should’ve transferred her power into a gerbil a long time ago,” Lizzie mused. She paused. “Or into someone more… expendable. Like Wane.”

“Wade,” MG corrected, looking uncertain about whether or not he should just be keeping his mouth shut.

Hope ignored Lizzie entirely, blinded with rage and still glaring at Alaric. “How did you even let the Necromancer get within five feet of her while I was gone?”

“It was the only way to save her,” Alaric claimed, sounding a bit unsure of himself for once. 

“ _I_ saved her,” Hope spat. “You couldn’t wait five minutes.” Hope stormed out of the closet and into Alaric’s office, violently raking a hand through her hair. 

Alaric followed, keeping a safe distance between them. MG and Lizzie both spun to watch the altercation – Lizzie even seemed to be slightly interested in it now. 

Alaric had known that Hope would be upset, but he was surprised that she was _this_ upset. She typically wasn’t the type to fixate on choices that were already in the past. In fact, one of Hope’s biggest strengths was her ability to accept how things were and adapt her plans with little hesitation. 

“Hope, you took more than five minutes in there,” Alaric tried to reason. 

Hope scoffed, spinning on her heel to glare at him again. “That isn’t the point. I would've never left without her, you know that.”

Alaric looked taken aback at the force and certainty in Hope’s voice. “I know you wouldn’t have, Hope, I was just worried that you wouldn’t be able to get out at all. And it wasn’t just about Josie, it was the only way I could protect Raf and Landon,” Alaric explained, desperate for Hope to understand.

Alaric looked very uncomfortable. He hadn’t really expected that Hope would be so angry with him. Hope usually understood what it was like to be forced to make such an impossible choice.

Of course, Hope knew on some level that she couldn’t really blame him. She was just overwhelmed and needed someone to blame. She averted her venomous glare from him when she noticed how much he looked like a kicked puppy. She took a deep breath to control herself and stopped directing her anger toward him, but the anger didn’t go away. Without someone to blame, she looked like she was a split second away from murdering everybody in the room.

The anger drained from her face when the door slowly swung open. Josie Saltzman stepped into the room holding a plate with a perfect-looking sandwich on it, stopping in her tracks to stare when she saw Hope, alive and well.

They seemed to have the same idea at once. Josie set the plate on a chair while Hope surged forward, and they both threw their arms around each other like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

Lizzie tried to hide her smile, crossing her arms over her chest while she leaned against the bookshelf. Okay, maybe they were a _little_ _bit_ cute together, she reluctantly admitted to herself.

Hope squeezed Josie tighter, resting her chin on Josie’s shoulder while her eyes flitted closed. “Jo, I was so worried about you,” Hope admitted in a whisper without letting go.

“ _Gag_ ,” Lizzie groaned dramatically with a roll of her eyes.

Hope’s eyes snapped open, and she blushed like she was just now remembering that there were other people in the room. She sent Lizzie a warning glare over Josie’s shoulder.

Hope pulled back reluctantly, holding Josie at arm’s length. She scanned over Josie’s body, like she was looking for injuries, before looking back into Josie’s eyes. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Josie assured her. “Are you?” she asked, just as softly. Alaric and MG both averted their eyes, suddenly realizing that they were witnessing something that seemed kind of… private. Lizzie just continued to stare at them with an unimpressed purse of her lips.

Hope laughed fondly. “This isn’t about me,” she murmured. Her hand trailed down Josie’s arm, interlacing their fingers. “Josie, I’m so goddamn proud of you.”

Lizzie scoffed loudly enough to disrupt the moment. “Hope, I swear to the powers that be, if you don’t stop _wagging your tail_ at my sister right in front of me, I'll throw up,” Lizzie complained.

“Lizzie,” Josie hissed warningly, glaring at her twin with a disapproving frown. “Ignore her,” Josie said when her eyes flickered back to Hope’s. She glanced back at Lizzie again with a perplexed expression.

“What the hell happened between you two in Josie’s brain, anyway?” Lizzie demanded, refusing to be ignored.

Hope and Josie both stared at Lizzie for a moment, neither knowing how to reply. They shared a shy look and a discrete smile.

“ _Ew_ , never mind, I don’t want to know,” Lizzie lamented. She dropped her arms and stepped away from the wall she’d been leaning on.

“Lizzie, stop it!” Josie hissed sharply. She looked like she was debating between showing her confusion or skipping right to being angry about Lizzie’s behavior.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, whatever, Glinda 2.0. As much as I want to stay here and watch this Hallmark reunion, I've just realized that I’d rather be elsewhere,” Lizzie snarked before spinning on her heel and leaving the room.

Josie looked perplexed at her twin’s extra-rude behavior. “What’s her problem?” Josie asked herself aloud.

“Nothing!” Hope said too a little too quickly. Josie raised an eyebrow as her eyes swerved back to look at Hope. Hope was blushing and wouldn’t meet her eye. Josie frowned. She released Hope’s hand, worried that Lizzie hinting at Josie’s feelings might've made Hope feel uncomfortable.

Hope walked around Josie rather abruptly, picking up the plate that Josie had set down on the chair when she came in. “Is this turkey?” Hope asked with a desperate edge to her voice that she was hoping no one would notice.

Josie rubbed at the back of her neck nervously. “Yeah, I mean, I know it’s your favorite,” she replied tentatively.

Alaric looked on with a furrowed brow. He might at times be out of the loop about what’s going on in his daughters’ lives, but he could tell when Josie was nervous. Apparently there was more to Josie's relationship with Hope than he knew. He just wondered how it could've developed without him noticing.

He remembered how he’d told Josie that she deserved to never be given up on. He glanced at Hope, who thanked Josie quietly before pretending to be fully immersed in the sandwich. The corner of his lip twitched upward, and he decided that he approved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry for the delayed update. School got pretty intense this week. I hope that you like this chapter. Thanks to everyone for the comments/kudos. :)


	6. Fairy Godmothering

Once again, Lizzie sat cross-legged on her bed with a notebook open on her lap. She was frustrated with the fact that feelings were not a one-and-done kind of thing. She was also frustrated that things wouldn’t stop happening around here long enough for her to keep up with them.

Lizzie had resurrected Hope, but she hardly received a ‘thank you’ from anyone before Hope and Josie decided to reenact The Notebook. Lizzie didn’t know if she should be irritated by this or if she should be glad that her twin was finally getting the epic love story she wanted. So, Lizzie settled on the former, as she usually did.

Lizzie was trying (with great effort) to document this struggle in her journal, but she was soon interrupted. Once again, Josie burst into the room. Lizzie looked up from her journal, her twin’s abrupt entrance giving her a weird sense of déjà vu. Lizzie braced herself to hear that someone had been attacked by a chimera – or a Snorlax, or a Furby. After Santa, her monster standards were low.

This time, Josie just looked pissed. She had barely made it into the room before she began to speak. “What the hell was that?” 

Lizzie realized that she didn’t have to worry about a narcoleptic Pokémon blocking the front entrance, and the interest drained from her face. “Elaborate,” Lizzie ordered lazily, glancing down to turn the page with disinterest.

Josie walked deliberately across the room and grabbed Lizzie’s journal straight out of her hands, tossing it carelessly onto the other bed and crossing her arms over her chest. Lizzie gasped as she watched her journal tumble gracelessly across Josie’s bed. Josie didn’t falter. “Why were you dropping those hints?” Josie demanded, barely restraining her glare.

Lizzie huffed at this, looking taken aback by Josie’s invasion of her personal bubble. “ _Rude_ ,” she grumbled, her eyes scanning over Josie like she couldn’t comprehend how such an inconsiderate person existed. She stood up and faced Josie head-on, crossing her arms to mimic her stance. “What hints?” Lizzie asked with a defensive lilt to her voice.

Josie’s jaw clenched. Her eyes darkened in response to Lizzie’s infuriating obliviousness. “Lizzie, listen carefully,” Josie began dangerously. “If I tell Hope how I feel it will be _my_ decision, _not_ yours.” 

Lizzie’s brow furrowed. She recoiled from Josie’s accusatory tone with a frown. “ _Well_ ,” Lizzie scoffed, affronted. “I am insulted that you think so lowly of me, sister dearest. I would _never_ betray your trust in such a way.”

Josie stared Lizzie down with a frown, unamused. “I’m not dumb, Lizzie. I can tell what you’re hinting at. And Hope’s not dumb either. She’s going to figure it out if you don’t knock it off!” Josie’s nostrils flared, her eyes closing briefly as if she were trying to control herself. Her eyes snapped open again after a pause, a fire in them that Lizzie found off-putting and very unlike her sister. “So, _knock it off_ ,” she commanded in growl, leaving Lizzie no room for argument.

Lizzie recoiled further, shocked by the hostility in Josie’s tone. For a beat, she didn’t respond at all, speechless for once. She briefly considered revealing that she had been hinting at _Hope’s_ feelings, not at Josie’s, but she was halted by an uncomfortable trickle of loyalty. She decided to change the subject instead. “Are you sure you’re fully exorcised?” Lizzie asked. “Because I’m getting a bit of a Wednesday Addams vibe right now.”

“It’s called anger,” Josie replied with a glare, Lizzie’s response doing nothing to quell her irritation. “And no, I am _not_ fully exorcised,” Josie continued. Lizzie looked horrified at the admission. Josie sighed. “But I am in control,” Josie insisted, more restrained now. “Like Hope said, evil-me is a part of me.” Josie seemed to soften at the thought of Hope. Her jaw clenched and her nostrils flared when she noticed that Lizzie’s horrified expression didn’t falter. Josie cleared her throat and steeled herself, defiance and hesitance battling in her eyes. Defiance won. “I can’t promise that I’ll stay in control if you don’t stop being an ass. It gets more difficult the more infuriating you choose to be. So, _stop_.” Josie spun on her heel and stormed out of the room without another word.

It took Lizzie a moment to recover from her shock. Then she charged forward and stepped into the hallway, her eyes fixing on Josie, who was speed-walking away. “You’d better not try to absorb me again!” Lizzie called after Josie’s retreating figure.

Josie tripped over her feet slightly and spun to stare back. She looked guilty at first, like she was considering apologizing again. Then her expression hardened, and she turned again to duck around the corner.

Lizzie frowned. Josie was apparently more serious about Hope than Lizzie realized. Lizzie had a vision of a future, single Josie, choking her out against a wall. She decided that this wouldn’t do at all.

* * *

Hope was seated on a couch near the school’s main entrance with a book in her lap. She liked to come here late at night, whenever she got the chance – which, admittedly, was not often. At this time of night, the room was nearly empty. Around finals, a few students would linger later, but they tended to just study and leave her alone. Hope liked the quiet; it was one of the few places where she could avoid conflict.

She still couldn’t entirely escape her responsibilities, though. The book perched in her lap was a bestiary. As soon as Hope had returned, Alaric told her that they hadn’t encountered a new monster since the Josie problem was fixed. But Hope was unaccustomed to the stillness. It made her feel on edge; like she was missing something important.

Lizzie marched into the room. She almost knocked over Wade as she made a beeline toward the tribrid. When she made it to the couch she spun sharply, facing Hope dead on with a determined expression on her face. Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest.

Hope glanced up from her notebook without moving any part of her body but her eyes. She froze, her expression stuck somewhere between confusion and fear. So much for peace and quiet. “Um,” Hope started hesitantly. “Can I help you?”

Lizzie cleared her throat and uncrossed her arms, turning her nose up like she was about to make an important announcement to a crowd. “After much deliberation, I have decided to give you my blessing,” she proclaimed.

Hope stared at her blankly, her lips slightly parting in confusion as she waited for Lizzie to explain further. When Hope realized that Lizzie wasn’t planning to say anything else, her brow furrowed and she slowly leaned further back into the couch, bracing herself. “Um…,” Hope gulped, her eyes darting around the room nervously. “I’m sorry, what?”

Lizzie cleared her throat dramatically. Despite the fact that she seemed to have no intention to say anything moments before, she looked pleased that Hope had bridged her toward her next statement, which Hope suspected was rehearsed. “You see, Miracle Baby, after evil Josie’s story arc, I’ve decided that it’s for the best if we, as a community, prevent Josie from repressing things,” Lizzie lectured. Hope took a deep breath and shut her book with an exasperated glance to the side, fearing what was to come. “And that includes her desire to date you,” Lizzie concluded with an air of finality. She paused, staring at the fireplace as though she were thinking. “Or, her desire to canoodle with you, anyway.”

Hope froze and sucked in a breath. “Jesus, Lizzie, can you stop using the word _canoodle_?” Hope begged in a frantic whisper. She looked around the room nervously, trying to ensure that there was no one eavesdropping. She was relieved to see that the only other person in the room was Wade, and that he seemed to be completely absorbed in some footage on his camera. Hope’s eyes spun back to shoot Lizzie a weak glare. “I thought you said that you were indifferent about this,” Hope whispered sharply.

Lizzie scoffed, making no effort to be subtle. “That was before I realized that a sexually frustrated Josie is like a ticking time bomb,” Lizzie exclaimed loudly, with dramatic flair. 

Hope blushed heavily, her eyes widening. Lizzie noted with pride that it was the most intense blush she’d seen manifest on the tribrid thus far. 

Because Hope was still balking like a lost puppy, Lizzie decided to speak and put her out of her misery. “In all honesty, Josie is one of the only people I care about in this world,” Lizzie stated with certainty. Hope snapped her mouth closed and gulped, seeming to recover from her embarrassment enough to function. Lizzie averted eye contact and flinched, as though she was dreading what was about to come out of her mouth. “And, as much as it pains me to admit it, so are you,” Lizzie said, trying to offset her statement by keeping her body language from coming across as affectionate in any way. 

Hope’s expression still softened at the admission. She looked touched. Lizzie nearly glared at her for it.

Lizzie continued to speak before Hope could reply and make the moment sappy. “If I’m honest, I think you’d be good for each other. You’re better for her than Satan, anyway, and God knows she’s better for you than Frodo.” Lizzie’s lip curled up in disgust at the thought of Landon. She continued on, as though she’d forgotten Hope was even there. “Besides, I have some weird sense of certainty that if you didn’t exist, Josie would be dead. You must be soulmates.”

Hope recoiled in confusion. “Lizzie, what the fuck are you talking about – ”

“Therefore, I have decided to do you both a favor and play Fairy Godmother,” Lizzie interrupted, fixing her intense gaze back on Hope. She looked at Hope expectantly, like she was waiting for a thank you.

Hope stared at Lizzie with disbelief, until Lizzie raised her eyebrows to remind her to respond. “Are you certain that’s a favor?” Hope finally asked, deadpan.

Lizzie glared. “Hope, don’t be ungrateful,” Lizzie snapped. 

Hope pursed her lips and stared at the ceiling, collecting herself. She took a deep breath while she tried to stitch words together in her head. “Lizzie,” Hope began, not certain of where she was headed. “I don’t need your help with this,” she said slowly.

Lizzie scoffed, propping her hands on her hips and glowering at Hope, like she was scolding a child. “Well, you need _someone’s_ help. You clearly can’t get it done on your own,” Lizzie snarked impatiently.

Hope just stared at Lizzie, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find a way to argue against what Lizzie had said. 

After allotting a few seconds for Hope to struggle, Lizzie spoke again. “Alright, good. Now that that’s settled. Let’s go back to your room and I’ll show you Josie’s favorite album, then you can serenade her or whatever.”

Hope stared at Lizzie in horror. She seemed to recover her ability to speak. “What? No! That’s never going to happen,” she rambled frantically. “I don’t even know how to play an instrument.”

Lizzie huffed. “Well, learn,” Lizzie suggested, as though it were that obvious.

Hope looked a tad irritated at this, her eyes hardening. “And when exactly am I going to have the time to learn an instrument?” Hope drawled sarcastically. She punctuated the question with a deep sigh. “Or to have a relationship, for that matter?” she continued with a tinge of sadness before she shook her head. “Lizzie, please. Forget about this, okay? It’s not going to happen.”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow as Hope stood up from the couch, tucking the book under her arm and scurrying away like a spooked animal. The corners of Lizzie’s lips tilted downward as she watched Hope move toward the exit.

Hope hesitated just before she ascended the steps to the hallway, her hand hesitating above the railing. She seemed to debate with herself. She finally spun back around toward Lizzie but wouldn’t make eye contact. Her mouth opened and closed as she sorted out what to say, or maybe just mustered up the courage to say it. “What is her favorite album, though?” Hope eventually managed to ask, her voice soft and hesitant. “I just… I’m just wondering.”

Slowly, Lizzie’s blank stare morphed into a victorious grin. She walked over to Hope, threading their arms together and dragging Hope up toward the hallway. Hope resisted, squirming for a moment and insisting that she would be doing no serenading in the near future, but Lizzie had already launched into a rant about all of Josie’s favorite bands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I love twisting reality to Lizzie's lens and having the other characters struggle to follow her logic. Thanks for all of the support!


	7. Matchmaking

Hope, in all honesty, rarely ate lunch in the cafeteria. Monsters had a knack for swooping in at the least convenient moments, so sometimes she barely had time to eat at all. Besides, she’d always been a bit of a loner. Even on the rare occasion that she wasn’t caught up in monster drama and chaos, she preferred to just scarf down a sandwich in the gym and train with the time she had left over. 

This week was different, though. It seemed that the Necromancer had gotten what he wanted and wasn’t bothering to send anything else their way. Hope didn’t have to go off hunting monsters during lunch period anymore. 

But if Hope tried to spend the time training, she couldn’t focus. She’d just end up panicking. Most of the students seemed to be treating this like a vacation, but it just made Hope anxious. She hated that the Necromancer had gotten close enough to Josie to touch her. She hated that he was on the loose, probably making steady progress toward ending the world. If she knew what they were facing, she could fight it. She couldn’t fight the Necromancer if he insisted on hiding in the shadows.

Having people around helped to keep her grounded – or, it motivated her to not start hyperventilating, anyway. She still didn’t really want to interact with anyone. She was used to lunch being alone time, and she didn’t want to give that up. So, instead of sitting with the whole squad, she’d just slip in quietly and eat alone in the corner. She’d arrive a little late so that most people would already be too engaged in conversation to notice her entrance, and then she’d slip out a few minutes early. It was a good system, for the most part.

She was starting to develop a habit that was a bit embarrassing, though. Josie always sat in the same spot a few tables away, usually with MG and Kaleb. Hope couldn’t seem to ignore how Josie came to life during lunch period. She was always smiling brightly and leaning toward the conversation to encourage her friends to talk. They’d all been very forgiving after she stopped acting like a sociopath, and she seemed committed to showing her appreciation.

Hope kept catching herself staring. It was like she couldn’t help it. She kept trying to snap herself out of it so that she wouldn’t look like an absolute creep, but then Josie would laugh, and Hope would forget all about that. 

Josie’s eyes lit up when she laughed. Her whole face lit up, really – she looked so carefree and happy, like there was nothing bad in the world. It made something twitch violently in Hope’s chest. Hope couldn’t help but smile herself. 

Hope was reaching the end of this train of thought for the third time when Lizzie suddenly slid into the seat beside her. Hope jumped a mile, nearly falling straight out of her chair. The smile dropped from her face as she realized, with horror, that Lizzie had probably seen her staring. Lizzie raised an eyebrow before looking down to stab at her potatoes. “You know, Hope, I always thought you’d be more of a Jacob than an Edward Cullen,” she started. “Guess I was wrong. You’re drooling, by the way.”

Hope blushed, instinctively raising her hand to her lips to make sure that she was not, in fact, drooling. She cleared her throat uncomfortably and shifted in her seat. “I…,” she trailed off. Hope began to stare intently down at the table. “Shut up,” she mumbled.

Lizzie looked up from her potatoes, dropping her nonchalant act and staring at Hope directly. “Just approach her already, or I will be forced to change your nickname to Courage the Cowardly Dog,” Lizzie threatened. “And that’s not going to be the best brand for our resident monster-hunting poster child, by the way.”

Hope picked up her fork, stabbing at her own potatoes with a scowl on her face. “You’re annoying _,_ ” she spat resentfully, cringing at the lack of creativity in her response.

“And talented, and brilliant,” Lizzie added without shame. She shot Hope a pointed look. “And better equipped to handle this situation than you are. Don’t make me drag you over there. I don’t know why you’re acting like you’re mustering up the courage to approach her at a bar for the first time, you’ve known her for years.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re better equipped to handle my private life than I am, are you?” she drawled sarcastically. Hope punctuated the question with a glare, trying to ensure that Lizzie got the message that it was rhetorical. Then Hope broke eye contact, staring down at the table again. “I can’t just _go over_ there,” she muttered hastily, the scowl returning to her face.

“And why not? We’re all friends,” Lizzie argued, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the group Josie was sitting with. Without looking up from the table, Hope clenched her jaw. She shoved a baby carrot in her mouth and chewed almost aggressively. Lizzie stared at her with suspicion for a few moments, until realization dawned on her face. “ _Oh_ , I see,” Lizzie began knowingly. “You’re scared to talk to her in front of people because you think they’ll notice your obvious heart eyes.”

Hope almost choked on the carrot. Her eyes darted around the room before she turned toward Lizzie, seething. “I do not have _heart eyes_!” Hope hissed in a furious whisper. 

Most people would be afraid to be on the other end of the fury of such a powerful being, but Lizzie seemed unbothered. “Trust me, you do,” she said simply, looking bored. “But fine, if you insist on being a coward, we’ll just have to wait till she’s isolated.”

“I am _not_ a coward,” Hope growled. Her eyes even flashed gold for a split second before she remembered herself, looking a bit shocked to find herself so angry. Lizzie either didn’t notice or didn’t care. Hope took a sharp breath to control herself, then continued. “And we are not _waiting till she’s isolated_ like this is an ambush. I don’t even have anything to talk to her about.”

Lizzie’s eyes stayed trained on Josie’s table, even when she replied. “Trust me, you do,” Lizzie repeated again, in the same bored tone. Hope’s upper lip curled into a snarl, infuriated by how casual Lizzie was acting. Hope was about to lash out, but then Lizzie’s eyes lit up with excitement and she kept talking. “Oh, good, she’s getting up to bring back her plate. Intercept her.”

Hope’s eyes widened, and then they darted in Josie’s direction. Lizzie was right; Josie was standing, saying something indecipherable to MG and Kaleb while she picked up her plate. Hope’s gaze swerved back to Lizzie, who looked like she was plotting in a way that made Hope feel very uncomfortable. “Lizzie – ”

Lizzie suddenly stood up, pulling Hope to her feet by the back of her shirt collar and dragging her toward the end of their table. Hope yelped in protest, stumbling, but Lizzie simply shoved Hope into the aisle that separated the two rows of tables. Lizzie returned to her own seat with remarkable speed. Hope froze with shock at the abrupt manhandling. She was about to snap out of it and turn to give Lizzie a piece of her mind when she saw Josie walking straight toward her and stilled further. 

Josie hadn’t noticed her yet – she was still looking over her shoulder, throwing some parting banter back at MG. In fact, Josie almost walked directly into Hope, but Hope cleared her throat just in time. Josie jumped, coming to a halt and spinning to face her just in time. “Um, hey,” Hope opened awkwardly.

Josie’s eyes widened with surprise, or maybe with panic. She seemed to have not expected to see Hope here at all. “Oh! Hey,” Josie replied, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and glancing down at the floor. 

Hope stared at Josie blankly, watching as the lock of hair fell loose again. Hope’s hand twitched at her side as she imagined reaching out to tuck it back behind Josie’s ear, but she restrained herself.

After a short silence, Josie looked up from her shoes. Hope seemed tense, but her expression was unreadable. She kind of looked like she’d seen a ghost. Josie was concerned. “Hope, are you okay?” she asked softly.

“What?” Hope replied quickly, looking like she was surprised to find herself in existence. Her eyes focused, tuning back into reality. “Oh,” Hope cleared her throat. “Yes. I’m fine.”

Hope didn’t exactly look fine. Josie thought she looked really pale, and her lips stayed slightly parted like she had something else to say. She was staring at Josie pretty intensely, too, and Josie couldn’t figure out why. “Oh,” Josie murmured. “Uh, did you want to talk to me about something?”

Hope froze. “No,” she responded automatically, a little too quick to sound natural. Alarm bells started going off in Hope’s head. Hope and Josie shared a blank stare for a painfully awkward moment. Hope gulped and felt her veins begin to flood with panic. “I mean, yes,” she corrected, sounding very unsure of herself.

Josie looked at Hope expectantly, with an encouraging smile. Hope just blinked back at her. After a long pause, Josie’s expectant look began to grow uncertain. “Um, okay,” Josie started carefully. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Hope froze again, her eyes widening. “I just wanted to say…,” Hope trailed off, having no idea what she wanted to say. The only phrase she could find in her mind was a resounding chorus of ‘ _I am such an idiot,’_ and she couldn’t say that.

Josie cocked her head to the side in confusion as Hope stopped speaking. 

Hope was panicking. She couldn’t think of anything to say at all, and, to make matters worse, she felt herself beginning to blush.

By the grace of God, Lizzie swooped in to save her. “Hello, I’m here now,” Lizzie stated, as though her presence wasn’t self-evident. Josie and Hope both jumped at her arrival, as if she had manifested out of thin air.

Josie only looked more confused as her eyes flickered over to Lizzie. Hope was simultaneously relieved and terrified.

Lizzie cleared her throat, her voice taking on a formal tone that noticeably clashed with the context. “Josie, we all know that Hope will never get over her phobia of asking for help, but she is trying to ask if you would be willing to teach her to play an instrument,” Lizzie stated matter-of-factly.

Josie looked taken aback for a moment, her eyes darting over to Hope to see if this was true. Hope sputtered, looking equally taken aback. 

Thinly veiled panic spread across Hope’s face before she gasped out, “What?! No!” She seemed disproportionately horrified, staring at Lizzie as though she’d been betrayed.

This reaction just seemed to confuse Josie further. “Uh…,” Josie didn’t even know what to say. She looked back and forth between Hope and Lizzie slowly. “Look, no offense, but you guys are kind of… acting weird. Maybe it’s a new monster or something?”

Lizzie scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes. She stared at Hope. “I don’t know, what do you think, Hope? Maybe it’s actually Cupid this time around?”

Hope went rigid, the blood draining from her face and her breathing going shallow. She felt the urge to hide forever. Luckily for her, it seemed that the meaning of Lizzie’s comment went straight over Josie’s head. Josie just looked more concerned.

Hope suddenly decided that the entire interaction had been a disaster and that she needed to escape it immediately. “Sorry, Josie, Lizzie and I need to do something,” Hope said quickly, her voice frayed with desperation. Josie’s brow furrowed in confusion. Hope only looked at her for a split second longer before she grabbed Lizzie’s wrist and dragged her all the way to the cafeteria’s exit.

Lizzie groaned dramatically. “You know, this would all go a lot smoother if you’d just follow my lead without stopping to question everything,” she complained as Hope gracelessly pulled her around the corner.

Hope spun to face her after they’d made it out of Josie’s line of sight. “Lizzie, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not exactly a follower,” Hope hissed venomously. She was trying to seem intimidating, but the blush on her cheeks made it obvious that she was feeling more embarrassed than angry.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms when Hope finally released her wrist. “Well, I had to step in because I saw you _leading_ _yourself_ straight into a panic attack. That was terrible,” Lizzie sassed mercilessly. “You’d think you’d be better at the whole romance thing, y’know, since everyone around here seems to want to be your love interest.”

Hope closed her eyes and took a deep, steady breath in through her mouth. Her fists clenched by her sides. “I wasn’t expecting to talk to her. I wasn’t prepared,” she hissed quietly through her teeth.

Lizzie raised her eyebrow. “Oh, _sorry_. Next time I’ll give you advanced notice so you can rehearse what you’re going to say in the mirror,” she snapped sarcastically.

Hope nearly growled, glaring intensely and seething with rage. “Fuck off, Lizzie.” Hope turned to storm away down the hall. 

Lizzie grabbed Hope’s wrist and spun her back around before she could run. “No can do. You need way more help than I thought you did,” Lizzie said seriously, all sarcasm leaving her voice. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but I have to train you.”

There was a long silence as Hope just stared at Lizzie in disbelief. “ _Train_ me?”

Lizzie huffed. “Yes, Hope. I know you’ve already been house-trained, but there’s simply more to love,” Lizzie said slowly, as though Hope were an idiot. “If you have plans for tomorrow night, cancel them.”

Lizzie was the one to turn and storm away for once, and Hope watched her go with a dropped jaw. Once Lizzie turned the corner, Hope flung her hands in the air and released an exasperated groan.

Meanwhile, Josie continued to stare at the cafeteria exit with a furrowed brow and a confused pout. She didn’t know what the hell was going on between Hope and Lizzie, but she intended to get to the bottom of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, I don't even know lol. Thanks for all the comments and support! I'm glad people are enjoying this, it's fun to write.


	8. Rehearsing

Hope almost allowed herself to believe that Lizzie had changed her mind about ‘training’ her (whatever the hell that was supposed to mean). She hadn’t encountered the blonde all day. Granted, Hope barely left her room all day except to sprint to the gym and back. 

It was nearly seven o’clock by the time Hope made it back to her room post-workout – and surely Lizzie wouldn’t reach out so late, Hope thought to herself. 

Hope sat at her desk, opting to try to get some homework done. She wasn’t making much progress, though. She kept looking at her phone, watching the minutes tick by. The later it got, the more certain she felt that Lizzie would leave her alone.

At seven o’clock on the dot, though, someone knocked on Hope’s door. Hope felt her stomach drop and stilled for a moment before rising to her feet. She hesitated to turn the doorknob, briefly praying that it would be anyone else. She would even prefer Alaric enlisting her for some new monster mission.

Her prayers went unanswered. She swung the door open and Lizzie was standing on the other side, looking bored. Hope didn’t even attempt to hide her displeasure, her lips falling into a frown. “What do you want?” she grumbled.

Lizzie’s eyes scanned over Hope’s body, like she was evaluating her appearance. Hope’s frown intensified in response. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. After a moment, Lizzie looked back up at Hope’s face with a disappointed scowl. “You’re not wearing _that_ , are you?”

Hope recoiled, offended. She glanced down at her own clothes to figure out why Lizzie had a problem with them. She was still wearing the outfit she’d worn to the gym, but she had every right to do so in the comfort of her own room. She looked back up and reflected Lizzie’s scowl with one of her own. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Hope asked, failing to keep the defensiveness out of her voice.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, propping her hands on her hips. “Look, maybe Josie thinks you’re hot when you work out or whatever, but if you think you can _impress_ a Saltzman with yoga pants, you are very wrong,” she snarked. Lizzie pushed passed Hope and forced her way into the room. 

Hope stumbled back a step. Lizzie’s aggressive entrance forced her to narrowly dodge a collision with the door. Lizzie seemed not to notice, already making a beeline for Hope’s closet. Hope scoffed, swinging the door closed. She turned and crossed her arms over her chest. “Uh, good thing Josie isn’t here, then?” Hope sassed, hoping her exasperated sarcasm would prompt Lizzie to tell her what was going on.

Lizzie blatantly ignored the comment, starting to rummage through Hope’s clothes. She carelessly tossed one of Hope’s shirts onto the bed with a disgusted grimace before turning back to dig through the closet again. “Do you have some nice jeans or something? You don’t really seem like the type of person who can pull off a sundress,” Lizzie muttered absentmindedly.

Hope tensed, anxious about the violation of her personal space. Her jaw clenched in annoyance. “Lizzie, if you’re just here to insult me, there’s the door,” Hope snapped, gesturing lazily over her shoulder.

This seemed to capture Lizzie’s attention. She turned to look at Hope, having the audacity to look offended. “Hope, I really don’t think you’re taking this as seriously as I am,” Lizzie accused with a stern glare.

Hope didn’t know whether to be confused or irritated. Interacting with Lizzie seemed to do that to her. “Well, I don’t even know what _this_ is, so I guess you’re right,” Hope snapped defensively. She grabbed her shirt off of the bed and shoved it back into her closet with a bit too much force. “Why are you here? To be clear, you are _not_ giving me a makeover. That’s crossing the line.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, looking at Hope like she was stupid once again. Hope didn’t like that she was starting to grow used to that expression. “I am here for our fake date,” Lizzie explained, as though it were obvious.

For a long moment, Hope’s expression froze into a blank stare. Then she sighed deeply, blaming herself for expecting more. “Our _what?_ ” she asked, her voice tense and unnaturally restrained.

“Our fake date, Hope, so we can rehearse what you will do and say when you score a real date with my sister,” Lizzie explained further, giving Hope a pointed look. Then, Lizzie spun around to rummage through Hope’s clothes once again.

Hope scoffed, rolling her eyes. “If you sent a memo about this, I didn’t receive it,” she drawled sarcastically.

Lizzie shrugged without turning around, pulling a jacket and some dark jeans out of Hope’s closet. “I said that you needed to be trained and then I told you to cancel your plans for tonight,” Lizzie started. “How could I have made my intentions more obvious?”

Hope sent an exasperated glare toward the ceiling, shaking her head in disbelief. “Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath.

Lizzie turned away from the closet, handing Hope a pile of clothes. “Change into this,” Lizzie ordered.

Hope’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Why does it even matter what I wear if this is fake?”

“Hope, this is a dress rehearsal. Play your part,” Lizzie snapped impatiently.

Hope thought about protesting further, but she knew that she stood little chance against the determined look in Lizzie’s eyes. She gulped, apprehensive about what was to come. “Whatever,” she nearly whined. “Just turn around.”

So, Hope changed into her costume and accepted her fate.

* * *

Less than a half hour later, Hope found herself seated beside Lizzie on a blanket they’d laid out on the dock. There was a picnic basket positioned strategically between them, the sun was setting over the water, and they were both feeling incredibly awkward.

Hope opened the picnic basket, grabbing one of the sandwiches Lizzie had forced her to make. Lizzie followed her lead and picked up the other one. Hope glanced at Lizzie out of the corner of her eye, wishing that she’d break the painfully awkward silence. Then she looked back at the lake, taking a careful bite of the sandwich.

“Hope, you’re not being very romantic,” Lizzie complained with a displeased frown. Hope immediately regretted wishing that Lizzie would say something.

Hope took her time chewing and swallowing, not looking in Lizzie’s direction when she finally spoke. “Well, I’m not attracted to you. Maybe that’s why,” Hope replied matter-of-factly.

Lizzie scowled. “I’m not attracted to you, either, you supernatural fruit salad,” she snapped. “But you’re supposed to be pretending that I’m Josie, that’s the whole point.”

Hope’s nostrils flared with irritation. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m just finding that a bit difficult to do, since you’re not Josie,” Hope sassed with thinly-veiled resentment.

“Stop being so whiny,” Lizzie spat. “Do you want to successfully woo my sister or not?”

Hope gulped at the pointed question, shifting uncomfortably. She took another bite of the sandwich to avoid having to answer right away, refusing to meet Lizzie’s eye.

Lizzie smirked victoriously. “That’s what I thought,” she continued. “Now, pretend I’m Josie. What would you say to me?”

Hope almost choked on the sandwich, clearing her throat to try to cover it up. She felt herself start to blush. She was blushing way too often lately. It was starting to take a toll on her self-esteem. “Lizzie, this is weird,” she muttered, desperately trying to escape the situation so that she could return back to the safety of her room.

Lizzie sighed, glaring at Hope out of the corner of her eye. “Hope…,” she warned.

Hope groaned. “Fine!” she relented, exasperated. Then Hope’s resolve seemed to falter. She bit her lip nervously, trying to think of what to say. “Uh, so… Josie,” Hope mumbled reluctantly, clearly uncomfortable. “How was your day?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Lame!” she exclaimed, her voice presenting a stark contrast to Hope’s hesitant tone.

Hope’s eyes widened at the aggressive response. She seemed confused, and noticeably out of her element. “Oh. Uh, why was your day lame?” she asked, sounding very unsure of herself.

Lizzie glared at Hope again. “Hope, my day wasn’t lame. Your question was lame.” Lizzie punctuated her criticism by taking a bite of her own sandwich.

Hope pouted. Lizzie pursed her lips with disapproval at how pathetic the big-bad-tribrid was acting. “What do you mean my question was lame?” Hope asked defensively, tensing. “Everyone asks that question.”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow as though the answer were obvious. “Exactly, it’s boring,” she claimed. “When are you going to confess your love?”

Hope physically flinched in response to the absurdity of the question. “I’m not going to just _confess my love_ out of nowhere,” she hissed, frustrated.

Lizzie seemed to not understand why Hope found the idea of confessing her love so absurd, but she dropped it for once. “Fine. Then ask her how she feels about you,” Lizzie ordered.

Hope noticed that her sandwich was beginning to collapse because of how tightly she was gripping it, so she attempted to force herself to relax. “I would literally never do that,” Hope muttered under her breath. She transferred her sandwich into one hand and shifted to hug her knees to her chest. 

Lizzie shook her head slowly, as if Hope were hopeless. “Which is why we have to go through this whole process in the first place,” Lizzie complained, ruthlessly bringing the conversation back to where it started.

The corner of Hope’s lip twitched with irritation. “Look, Lizzie, maybe I’m not the best at romance or whatever, but you can’t just overwrite my personality and replace it with yours,” she spat with a frustrated scowl.

“Which is a true shame,” Lizzie replied shamelessly. Lizzie had somehow managed to finish her sandwich already without Hope noticing. She turned to face Hope directly, targeting her with an intense stare. Hope flinched under her gaze. “Listen. If you won’t ask her how she feels, you’re going to have to tell her how you feel,” Lizzie stated firmly. Hope felt like a child being disciplined. “So, tell me. How does she make you feel?”

Hope released a heavy breath, refusing to look at Lizzie and keeping her eyes trained on the sunset. She nervously tugged at the hem of her jeans with her free hand. “I’ve never felt like such a useless idiot in my life, if that’s what you mean,” she answered, looking miserable.

Lizzie couldn’t help but laugh, seeming to thoroughly enjoy Hope’s misery. “How romantic,” she said, her voice dripping with enthusiastic sarcasm.

Hope all of a sudden realized that she wasn’t even halfway finished with her own sandwich. She took another bite, mostly to try to escape the conversation.

Lizzie frowned. “By the way, the sandwiches are really killing the mood,” she noted. “Make some steak or something for the real thing.”

Hope side-eyed Lizzie like that suggestion was ridiculous. “Josie doesn’t even like steak,” she replied automatically. Hope immediately realized that the comment revealed how closely she paid attention. She blushed. Feeling vulnerable, she attempted to deflect Lizzie’s attention. “Look, Lizzie, is all of this what Josie would want or is it just what you’d want?”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Nice try. That wasn’t an invitation to change the subject,” she scolded. “Come on, Hope. Tell me how you feel.”

Hope frowned. She resented how Lizzie never failed to call her out. She wanted to run away. “I hate this,” she whined.

Lizzie groaned dramatically. “Ugh, fine. Since you insist on being difficult, let’s switch gears,” she suggested.

Hope nodded frantically. “Yes, please,” she practically begged. “Nothing could be worse.”

Lizzie squared her shoulders, trying to appear intimidating. “What are your intentions with my sister?”

Hope froze, horrified. “Okay, I was wrong,” she said.

“Hope…,” Lizzie trailed off with a warning glare.

Hope shrugged, seeming to try to shrink back into herself. “I don’t know,” she muttered weakly. “I just like her.”

“You just like her?” Lizzie prompted, pushing Hope to elaborate.

“Yeah,” Hope replied, her voice wavering. She resented how pathetic she sounded. She couldn’t even get herself to look in Lizzie’s direction.

Lizzie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “And what do you like about her?”

“I don’t know,” Hope repeated. “She’s sweet,” she admitted, just slightly above a whisper.

“You can do better than that,” Lizzie said softly. Hope was surprised by Lizzie’s tone, having expected that Lizzie was just planning to make fun of her more. Her eyes darted over to Lizzie, and she was shocked further to find that Lizzie’s expression wasn’t judgmental or indifferent for once. Lizzie gave Hope an encouraging smile and a nod, urging her to continue. 

Hope looked away from Lizzie again. She took a deep, shaky breath, her fist clenching at her side like this conversation was physically painful for her to have. She stared intently at the half-eaten sandwich that she still held in her other hand. 

“Uh,” Hope began again, clearing her throat. “Well, there’s a lot of things I like about her. Like… how much she cares about people. Sometimes too much, but that’s not the worst flaw to have,” Hope muttered, smiling slightly to herself. Her eyes shifted to the sunset. “She tries so hard to see the best in people, even after everything she’s been through. Even when people don’t deserve it.”

Hope was beginning to sound like she’d forgotten Lizzie was there altogether; like she was just talking to herself. “When it comes down to it, it’s mostly about the way she looks me. Because most people just take me at surface level. They look at me like they think I’m indestructible, or something,” Hope’s voice steadied. “Josie’s never looked at me like that. She looks at me like I’m a person. Even when I try to put on a brave face, she sees right through it. She can read me like no one else can.” 

Hope bit her lip. “She doesn’t show much of herself, either. We’re the same, that way. Some people look right through her, but I see her, too. I can see how smart and powerful she is, even though she tries to hide...,” Hope trailed off, realizing that she was rambling. She suddenly seemed to remember that Lizzie, of all people, was witnessing this soliloquy. She looked horrified at what she’d just revealed. 

Lizzie was pinning her with an amused, knowing look. “See, Romeo? Was that so hard?” Lizzie teased, raising an eyebrow. Hope groaned miserably, trying to hide her face by resting her forehead against her knee.

For once, Lizzie had mercy on Hope, realizing that the tribrid would probably have a heart attack if Lizzie didn’t stop staring at her mortified blush. Lizzie averted eye contact, her gaze turning to look over her shoulder toward the path that led up to the dock. 

Lizzie’s eyes widened dramatically. “Fuck!” she yelped in a frantic whisper. Lizzie instinctively grabbed Hope’s sandwich out of her hand and threw it into the lake, leaping to her feet.

The movement was so abrupt that Hope didn’t even react for a second, just staring in shock at her sandwich floating in the lake. “Lizzie, what the hell?!” Hope exclaimed, scrambling to her feet, too. “I was still eating that!” she snapped angrily, gesturing to the floating sandwich.

“Abort mission!” Lizzie hissed under her breath, her frantic eyes darting to Hope and then back to the woodline.

Hope stared at Lizzie like she was out of her mind, but she froze when she followed Lizzie’s gaze. Josie Saltzman was walking toward them hesitantly, way too close for comfort. Hope’s breath hitched in fear and she felt like she might pass out.

Josie halted at the end of the dock instead of closing all of the distance, nervously rubbing at the back of her neck and averting eye contact. “Uh, I swear, I’m not trying to be stalkerish or anything,” Josie explained nervously. “It’s just almost eight and Lizzie didn’t come back to our room after class.”

There was a tense silence. Hope swallowed, her eyes wide. “Uh,” she started unintelligently, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and shifted, trying and failing to seem more confident. “Jo, did you just hear all of that?”

Josie’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Hear all of what?” she asked, obviously clueless.

Hope couldn’t contain the relieved sigh that left her lips. “Oh, thank God,” she whispered, actually sounding like she was praising God.

Hope’s reaction did nothing to alleviate Josie’s confusion. Josie’s lips were slightly parted, and her gaze was slowly flipping back and forth between Hope and Lizzie. “What are you guys doing out here?” she asked slowly, her expression unreadable. Her eyes lingered on Lizzie’s, but then they darted down to look at the picnic basket. Her confusion intensified. “Are you having a picnic?”

Hope looked at Lizzie. Lizzie looked back at Hope, as though it was Hope’s responsibility to come up with answer. Hope frowned, clearly upset about being put on the spot. “Um, no,” she answered quickly. Then she glanced down at the picnic basket and realized that she was very obviously lying. “Well, okay, yes.”

There was a tense and awkward silence as all three of them just took turns staring at each other, wondering who would speak next. 

All Hope knew was that she had to escape somehow. “Wow, would you look at the time,” she said, her voice higher than usual. She made it a point to look down at her wrist even though she didn’t have a watch on. “I didn’t realize it was that late. Well, I still have to shower, so I am going to go… do that,” she finished anticlimactically. 

Josie’s lips twitched into a frown. 

Hope remained still for another awkward moment before she moved to leave. “And you are going to keep your mouth shut or I am going to skewer you,” Hope growled at Lizzie under her breath as she walked by her.

Hope smiled awkwardly at Josie as she passed, avoiding eye contact. 

She more or less ran to her room and locked the door behind her. She pressed her back against it, closing her eyes and releasing a deep sigh. She prayed that Lizzie would never tell Josie a word of what she’d said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than usual. Thoughts?


	9. Confronting

Hope returned to the dock the next day. She sat down to watch the sunset, alone this time. She replayed the whole scene from the previous night in her mind – Lizzie dragging her out there, harassing her and ruthlessly throwing her sandwich into the lake before she got the chance to finish it.

Maybe Hope would’ve already processed and mourned the death of her sandwich if it weren’t for the added drama of Josie manifesting out of thin air. Hope remembered the anxious look on Josie’s face in great detail; the way she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and barely made eye contact. 

If Josie had shown up just a moment sooner, she might’ve overheard every word of Hope’s lovesick rant. That would’ve been mortifying. After such a close call, Hope was still feeling jumpy.

She hated seeing Josie so confused. Confusion wasn’t exactly a positively valenced emotion, after all. But Hope was also unbearably anxious about Josie finding out the truth. If she ever found out, Hope would be way too vulnerable. 

So, twenty-four hours later, Hope found herself staring at the woodline once again. She was trying to figure out how Josie had managed to get so close to them without Hope hearing her coming. 

Suddenly, Hope heard someone stomping through the forest toward her. Hope concluded that she had either been very distracted the night before or Josie had just been very quiet, because she could hear whoever was approaching from a mile away. 

It turned out to be Lizzie, because of course it was. Lizzie wouldn’t leave Hope alone lately. Hope felt her stomach twist with anxiety when she noticed the determined look on Lizzie’s face. She prayed that Lizzie wasn’t about to force her to go on another Josie-related training mission.

“Hope, we have a problem,” Lizzie called out before she had even reached the dock. 

Hope tensed, turning to look at the sunset. She still blamed Lizzie for the chaos of last night. “Oh?” Hope replied unenthusiastically. 

Lizzie stepped in front of Hope, obnoxiously blocking her view of the sunset. “Pay attention, this is serious,” Lizzie commanded.

Hope scowled. “No offense, Lizzie, but I’d rather not talk out here if there’s a chance Josie might be listening again,” she whispered, shooting Lizzie a stern glare.

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” she retorted. “Josie’s been actively avoiding me. That’s our problem.”

Hope looked down, kicking her shoe against the wood of the dock. “Well, that sounds a lot like _your_ problem,” she muttered resentfully.

Lizzie huffed. “It’s not just that, Hope,” Lizzie replied impatiently. “She’s doing that thing she does where she broods but pretends everything’s fine. I’m worried she might be on the verge of having a black magic relapse or something.”

At this Hope glanced up from her feet. For a moment, she forgot that she was mad at Lizzie and her eyes flooded with concern. “Why?” she asked with a frown. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “If I knew that I would’ve opened with it, Sherlock,” she snarked. “I’d ask her about it, but she runs away like a skittish Maltese whenever I get within ten feet of her.”

Hope’s frown deepened.

Lizzie dropped her arms from her chest and sighed like it was going to be painful for her to request whatever she was about to request. “Which is why you have to be the one to ask her about it,” she grumbled reluctantly.

Hope flinched in surprise. “Me?”

“Yeah. She’ll talk to you,” Lizzie answered, like it was obvious.

Hope froze for a moment, not seeing how that was obvious. Then she narrowed her eyes, looking at Lizzie suspiciously. “Lizzie, is this a setup?”

Lizzie scoffed. “Hope, not everything’s about you,” she spat. “Find out what’s wrong with my sister. And fix it while you’re at it.”

Lizzie ended the conversation as abruptly as she’d started it, charging around Hope and back toward the school. Hope frowned again, wondering how Lizzie always managed to get her wrapped up in these situations. She bit her lip, worrying about what might be wrong with Josie. 

* * *

The next day, Hope found herself thoroughly searching every nook and cranny of the school. She was starting to suspect that Josie was avoiding her, too. The girl shouldn’t be so hard to find, she thought to herself. After some mildly aggressive interrogation, MG told her that he’d just seen Josie in the cafeteria. But she was nowhere to be found when Hope got there.

Hope finally managed to catch up to Josie in the library. Josie was positioned in a corner, which made it seem a bit like she didn’t want to be found. Hope ignored this and approached anyway, because she had put in way too much effort to give up now.

“Hey,” Hope said tentatively, approaching Josie’s table carefully like she was worried Josie might run away.

Josie jumped and stared at Hope like a deer in headlights. “Hope,” she murmured.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Hope replied awkwardly with a small smile. “Can we talk?”

Josie gulped, averting eye contact. “Uh,” she stuttered in reply. “I… I’m sorry, Hope, I’m actually kind of busy.”

Hope’s smile slowly drooped into a disappointed frown. “Oh,” she said. Hope cringed when she heard that her own voice sounded so disappointed, clearing her throat to try to cover it up. “I mean, I just wanted to check to make sure everything’s alright.”

Josie still wouldn’t make eye contact. “Everything’s fine,” she claimed in a tone that sounded decidedly not fine. “But I was actually just about to head out. I have to meet MG. I’ll see you around.”

Hope’s brow furrowed in confusion. Hadn’t Josie just said she was busy? Before she could ask, Josie was shoving all of her things in her bag. By the time Hope snapped out of her confusion, Josie was already walking away from her. “Josie, wait!” Hope called out, grabbing Josie’s wrist gently. Josie halted in her tracks, staring at Hope. “Lizzie told me you’ve been avoiding her,” Hope blurted out.

Josie looked away with an irritated pout, clearly upset that Lizzie had been talking about her behind her back – and with Hope, of all people.

Hope tensed at Josie’s silence. “Is something wrong?” Hope asked desperately, releasing Josie’s wrist and nervously playing with the ring on her finger.

Josie shifted uncomfortably on her feet, still avoiding eye contact. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine,” Josie repeated, staring down at her shoes.

Hope didn’t look convinced at all. “Come on, don’t give me that,” she huffed, frustrated. “I know you. Something’s wrong.”

Josie bit her lip, only glancing up at Hope briefly before she averted eye contact again.

Hope blatantly pouted. “Please, Jo, don’t push me away,” she begged. “I want to be here for you if you’re going through something again.”

Josie shook her head frantically. “It’s not that,” Josie insisted, her voice firm and reassuring despite her refusal to make eye contact. 

Hope bit her lip, calming slightly. “But it is something?”

Josie hesitated. “It’s stupid,” she muttered under her breath.

Hope shook her head. “I’m sure it’s not stupid,” she insisted.

Josie stayed silent.

“Are you mad at Lizzie for something?” Hope asked quietly. She shifted on her feet, her mouth starting to feel dry. “Or… are you mad at me?”

Josie flinched. “I’m not mad at you,” she answered. “It’s just…,” she trailed off.

“It’s just what?” Hope asked, insistent.

Josie hesitated for a moment before answering. “Hope, is there something you’re not telling me?” she asked, her eyes finally meeting Hope’s dead on.

Hope recoiled, taken aback by the sudden shift in the conversation. “What wouldn’t I be telling you?”

Josie shrugged. “I don’t know… you’ve just been acting kind of weird lately,” she replied, the confidence draining out of her voice. “You’ve been hanging out with Lizzie a lot,” Josie continued, her voice tinged with subtle resentment.

Hope crossed her arms across her chest defensively. “Yeah, against my will,” she huffed under her breath. 

Josie bit her lip, continuing as though she hadn’t heard Hope’s comment. “You and Lizzie…,” she started. “Are you guys, like…,” Josie trailed off into silence, looking down at her shoes again.

Hope’s lips parted with confusion. “Are we what?” she asked, lost.

Josie pursed her lips, shifting on her feet uncomfortably. “You know…,” she muttered, trailing off again.

Hope pouted, clearly still confused. Josie’s eyes darted down to her lips for a moment, her tongue darting out to wet her own. Hope gulped, suddenly feeling very nervous. She looked away. “I’m not following,” she replied.

Josie released a frustrated sigh, crossing her arms over her chest to mirror Hope. “Hope, are you and Lizzie together?” she finally asked.

“Together?” Hope repeated cluelessly.

Josie’s jaw clenched, glaring lightly at Hope like she resented being forced to spell it all out for her. “Are you dating?”

For a beat, Hope just stared at Josie blankly. Then, she looked horrified. “What?!”

Josie swallowed thickly, her next words coming out in a frantic rush. “Because I just want you to know that it would be okay if you were, you don’t have to hide it from me if that’s what makes you happy –”

“Of course not!” Hope basically yelled, with such force that every student in the library turned to stare at them. 

Josie jumped. Hope flinched when she noticed that everyone was staring, rubbing the back of her neck and looking down to hide her face. She stayed quiet until everyone looked away.

Hope cleared her throat awkwardly. She really didn’t know how to respond to this at all. “I mean, not because she’s a girl or anything, I don’t have a problem with that,” Hope muttered, feeling dumber with every word she spoke. Josie was looking at her strangely, like she didn’t understand why Hope had felt the need to say that. Hope panicked, trying to distract from it by speaking again. “But, trust me, Lizzie is _not_ the one I’m interested in,” she said firmly.

Josie looked pleasantly surprised at the revelation. “Oh. Okay,” she murmured, apparently relieved. “Good,” she said. 

Hope blushed, glancing away nervously. She shifted on her feet.

Josie seemed to realize something all of a sudden, looking at Hope curiously. “So, who are you interested in, then?” she asked softly.

Hope froze. “Huh?” she asked blankly.

Josie gulped, biting her lip and looking like she wasn’t sure if she should continue speaking or not. “You said she’s not the one you’re interested in,” she blurted out. “Does that mean you’re interested in someone else?”

“Uh,” Hope started nervously. She was suddenly feeling very stupid. She cleared her throat. She had to think of something fast. “You know, I just remembered that your Dad wanted me to… clean… the armory,” she claimed, her voice wavering.

Josie frowned. “What?”

Hope gulped, cringing at herself in a way that made her seem even more unconvincing. “Dr. Saltzman asked me to clean the armory,” she lied, looking away.

“The armory?” Josie asked, suspicious.

Hope blinked. “Yup,” she said.

Josie tilted her head to the side, confused. “Why would my Dad ask you to clean the armory?”

“Um,” Hope started hesitantly. “Because… The Necromancer was in there. And your Dad… wanted me to make sure… that there weren’t any zombie parts laying around.” Hope wished she could just jump into Malivore again to escape the conversation.

Josie seemed suspicious. “Oh. It just doesn’t really seem like the type of thing my Dad usually asks you to do.” She looked at Hope with a raised eyebrow.

Hope laughed nervously. “Yeah, well,” she began. “The demand for my line of work around here has… decreased,” she concluded. _My line of work?!_ Hope thought to herself. _I’m such an idiot!_

“Right,” Josie replied. She studied Hope for a moment, but then her mouth twitched into an annoyed frown. “And instead of letting you relax for once, my Dad is treating you like a servant,” Josie said, the bitterness toward her father seeping into her voice.

Hope panicked. Her goal had not been to make Josie angry with Alaric. It would be mortifying if Josie confronted Alaric just to find out that she’d lied about something so insignificant. “No!” Hope blurted out without thinking.

Josie stared at her, confused again. “No?”

“No… I, um, I asked your Dad if there was anything I could do,” Hope explained, ashamed that she was just making all of this up as she went. She had never been a very good liar. “I’ve been feeling kind of on edge. Like I should be doing something,” she explained. “Anything,” she finished with a shrug. Hope was relieved to find that she had somehow stumbled upon the truth, but she blushed when she realized that she was randomly revealing how she felt.

Josie stared back at her, her eyes softening at the admission. “Hope…,” she murmured softly, her lips twisting into a pout that Hope found very distracting. Josie suddenly had a determined look in her eye that amplified Hope's apprehension. “Alright,” Josie said firmly. “I’ll help you.”

Hope froze. “What?” she asked quietly, praying that she had heard Josie incorrectly. 

“I’ll help you clean the armory,” Josie elaborated.

Hope blinked. “You definitely don’t have to do that,” she replied after a moment.

Josie pinned Hope with a stern glare. “Hope, I’m not taking no for an answer,” she insisted. “Let’s go.”

Josie grabbed Hope by the wrist and started to pull her out of the library. Hope frowned. _Well, shit,_ she thought to herself as she allowed herself to be dragged away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! Let me know what you think! :)


	10. Cleaning

Hope couldn’t believe that her lie had spiraled so far out of her control.Now she actually had to clean the armory. 

The armory was more like a glorified broom closet, filled almost to the brim with dangerous objects. Hope was pretty sure that no one had bothered to clean it in years. Most people didn't even know it existed.

There was a massive pile of weapons on the floor, and its borders were so ill-defined that there was barely room to move around. Hope and Josie ended up sitting on the floor with only a foot of space between them. There were weapons strewn everywhere. Some of them were still covered in dried blood, which was gross. Hope wondered if Dr. Saltzman might have a hoarding problem.

Most of the weapons were sharp and pointy, too, and Hope couldn’t stop worrying for long enough to make any real progress. Some of the weapons were probably coated with poison, after all, and Hope was all too aware that Josie might prick a finger at any moment. Hope flinched every time the brunette made a sudden movement.

Hope would’ve used magic to get the job done quicker, but some of the objects didn’t look pointy at all. For all Hope knew, jostling them around with magic could have horrible consequences. 

Hope didn’t want to flaunt her magic in front of Josie, anyway. Josie no longer had her own magic to match, so Hope figured that it would be kind of inconsiderate.

Instead, Hope had to do things the old-fashioned way – by physically picking things up. She was being excessively careful about it, as if she were an archaeologist. Josie wasn’t being careful at all, however, which put Hope on edge. 

Hope couldn’t focus on anything besides the risk of Josie getting hurt. They worked together in silence for nearly half an hour, but every second felt like an eternity to Hope. 

Then, Josie accidentally dropped a knife. It only fell an inch or two through the air, but it rattled loudly when it hit the ground. Hope jumped and released a startled little yelp, her eyes darting over to Josie, alarmed. 

Josie sheepishly picked up the knife. Hope could see a little smile tugging at the corner of Josie's lips. Hope guessed that she was probably amused by the pathetic, very un-Hope-like noise that had just escaped Hope’s mouth against her will. Hope cleared her throat, staring down at the floor with a blush.

Josie moved to resume the task at hand, but Hope didn’t feel like she could take much more of this. “Maybe we should take a break,” Hope called out. 

Josie froze, about to grasp the handle of a sword. Hope bit her lip, praying that Josie would agree to stop for a couple minutes. After a brief pause, Josie withdrew her hand from the sword. “Yeah, okay,” she replied quietly.

Hope let out a relieved sigh under her breath, trying to be subtle about it. She twisted to scoot away from the weapon pile, pressing her back against the door and splaying her legs out in front of her. Josie followed suit, resting her back against the wall a few inches to the left of Hope and hugging her knees to her chest.

The room fell into silence, though it wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. Hope and Josie both glanced around. Hope couldn’t really figure out if the armory looked any better. 

They’d managed to separate some of the weapons into smaller piles; one for swords, one for knives, another for objects they couldn’t identify. They still had a long way to go.

Hope glanced to her left and saw that Josie was still holding the knife she’d dropped a couple minutes ago. Josie was flipping it in her hand absentmindedly in a way that made Hope’s chest clench with anxiety.

Hope watched the knife twirling through the air, over and over again. Hope’s hand tugged nervously at the fabric covering her thigh, bunching up her pants. She felt her nerves building with every flip of the knife, until she finally gave in and murmured, “Be careful with that.” 

Josie’s eyes jumped over to Hope, wide with surprise. Hope’s tone had been more along the lines of a gentle warning than an order, but Josie stopped anyway. She could tell that it was making Hope anxious. Josie looked down at the knife. She shifted to sit cross-legged, holding it up in the palm of her hand so that Hope could see it, too. “I like it,” Josie admitted, admiring the knife. “I might keep it.”

Hope shifted uncomfortably, biting her lip. “I don’t know, Josie,” she started, concern leaking into her voice. “We don’t know where it came from. It might be dangerous. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Josie shrugged. “I don’t want to get hurt, either,” she muttered. “If I’m not using magic, I have to find some other way to defend myself.”

The room fell back into silence. Hope scanned over Josie’s expression, her lips parting. Josie didn’t look up, focused on tracing the weird symbol engraved on the knife’s hilt with a fingertip. Hope stared for a second too long before she caught herself and blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

Josie turned to look back at Hope, confused. She set the knife down on the floor beside her. “What?” Josie asked curiously. “Why?”

Hope frowned. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you when the Necromancer took your magic,” she muttered quickly under her breath, looking down at her feet like she was ashamed.

Josie stared at Hope with a pout. “Hope…,” she whispered, her lips curling around Hope’s name with reverence. 

Josie didn’t like the way Hope was frowning, so she reached out to pull one of Hope’s hands into her lap on impulse. Hope went rigid, gulping. She stared nervously at their hands, which were now intertwined and resting on Josie’s thigh. 

Hope didn’t look away from their hands until Josie nudged her ribs gently with an elbow. When she finally did look up, she found Josie staring back at her. 

Hope’s breath hitched. When had they gotten so close? She felt herself beginning to panic. She had forgotten how to function, apparently. Even breathing suddenly required conscious effort. 

Josie’s expression was a complete mystery to Hope. She knew that Josie’s eyes were trying to convey something, but she felt way too dumb to figure it out. 

A flurry of panicked thoughts flooded Hope’s mind. What had they just been talking about? Was Hope the last one to speak or was Josie? Was Josie waiting for her to say something? How did conversations work, anyway?

Hope was finally put out of her misery when Josie decided to break the silence. With her free hand, Josie gestured vaguely toward her own head. “You were protecting me in here, remember?” she murmured, gazing back at Hope with fondness.

A bit of Hope’s tension melted away as she felt herself catch up with the conversation. Then Josie grinned lazily in a way that made Hope’s heart skip a beat, and any progress was lost. Hope blushed heavily and glanced away. She figured that this must be what it felt like to spontaneously combust. 

When Josie spoke again, her voice was stern but reassuring. “It’s absolutely not your fault,” she stated, gently squeezing Hope’s hand. Hope met Josie’s eye again with the last bit of courage she had left. Josie smiled. “And sure, it sucks that the Necromancer has it now, but it’s not like I wanted to keep what he took from me.”

Hope frowned, confused. She cleared her throat, glancing away again. She didn’t think she’d be able to speak properly otherwise. “What do you mean? Don’t you want your magic back?” she asked, her voice sounding embarrassingly rough at the edges. She cleared her throat and blushed once again.

Josie reflected Hope’s confused frown with her own, her head tilting to the side. She studied Hope for a moment before realization seemed to dawn on her. “Hope, you do know that he only took the black magic, right?”

Hope stared blankly at Josie, her lips parting with shock. “Wait, you can still siphon?”

“Yeah,” Josie answered. She looked down at their hands in her lap. She used her free hand to trace gently along the back of Hope’s palm. “Well, I mean, not right now,” she muttered, looking almost embarrassed. She brushed a fingertip over one of Hope’s rings absentmindedly, looking lost in a memory. “I kind of stored my power in a ring. But that was my choice. He didn’t take it.”

Hope frowned. She tried not to be distracted by what Josie was doing with her hand, which was surprisingly difficult. The sensation felt weirdly amplified. “Why did no one tell me that?” Hope muttered to herself, slightly irritated.

“Hope, I’m sorry,” Josie said with a pout. “I thought my Dad told you.”

Hope recalled how she had yelled at Dr. Saltzman for putting Josie at risk before he could say much about it. She also recalled their most recent training sessions, where she would only respond to anything he said with a grunt or a one-word answer, and where she had been developing a habit of taking him down a bit harder than necessary. She realized that she hadn’t exactly given him the chance to explain. “Oh,” she replied.

Hope couldn’t think of anything more intelligent to say. She was slightly upset with herself, but she was also distracted. Josie was still looking down, fiddling with Hope’s ring. It felt way more important than Hope figured it should. Hope couldn’t think of anything else, but Josie didn’t seem to be paying much attention to it. She was biting her lip and her eyes were slightly glazed over, like she was thinking hard about something else.

Neither of them said anything, so the silence extended. Josie seemed to notice this after a minute. She looked over at Hope. 

Hope realized a moment too late that she was blatantly staring. She blushed, but something in Josie’s eyes stopped her from looking away. They were captivating.

Hope watched as Josie’s lips parted ever so slightly. Hope’s blush intensified as she realized that she was now staring directly at Josie’s lips like a creep, and she forced herself to look back up at Josie’s eyes again. 

Josie didn’t appear to be creeped out, to Hope’s relief – her eyes just seemed to have gotten darker. There was an intensity in them that Hope didn’t know how to interpret. 

It made Hope almost unbearably nervous. Her mouth felt very dry all of a sudden, so she gulped and licked her lips. Josie’s eyes darted downward to follow her tongue, and she didn’t look back up again. 

Hope felt her heart pounding. She felt lightheaded, and she prayed that she wasn’t about to pass out. She wouldn’t be able to cope with the embarrassment. 

Josie’s eyes were still trained on Hope’s lips. She almost looked like she was in a trance. She started to lean closer to Hope, painfully slow. Hope suddenly realized that her own back was no longer pressed up against the door, and she wondered at what point she had started to lean toward Josie herself. 

Their lips were only a few inches apart now, and Josie showed no sign of stopping. Hope wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like.

Her heart came closer to failing a moment later, though, because the door behind her suddenly swung open, colliding with her back. She released an embarrassing, high-pitched yelp as her entire body was pushed a few inches across the floor from the force of it, before the door stilled.

Josie’s eyes widened. She seemed to snap out of her trance. “Hope!” she called out, no doubt concerned about the uncharacteristic yelp. Josie’s voice sounded huskier than Hope had ever heard it before, which caused both Hope and Josie to promptly avert eye contact.

Alaric’s voice burst into the room through the crack of the door, though he didn’t yet try to push it open further. “Who’s in there?” he shouted, his voice tense and guarded in a way that told Hope and Josie that he probably thought some monster had infiltrated the armory.

Josie cleared her throat before responding, probably trying to prevent her voice from sounding the way it just had. “It’s just me and Hope, Dad!” she called through the door. Her voice still sounded a bit rattled.

“Josie?” Alaric replied, sounding extremely confused. 

Hope and Josie both scrambled to their feet, Hope accidentally kicking the hilt of a sword and causing a loud clatter in the process. Even after the obstacle of Hope’s body had been removed, Alaric didn’t attempt to open the door further. Hope and Josie glanced at each other awkwardly as they waited for him to say something else.

After a long pause, Alaric spoke again. “Why are you guys in the armory?” he asked. Alaric cleared his throat awkwardly. “Can I come in? Are you both… decent?”

Josie audibly gasped, looking horrified. She reached out and swung open the door, as if to prove that they were, in fact, decent. “Why would we not be?!” she hissed.

Alaric rubbed at the back of his neck nervously, looking very uncomfortable. “I just thought…,” he trailed off, feeling too awkward to say what he thought. He glanced around the armory to avoid having to look at either one of them. His brow furrowed as he noticed the small piles that they had been sorting weapons into. “Are you guys… cleaning the armory?” he asked, clearly confused.

Hope remembered why they were here and felt herself beginning to panic. “Yes. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted to help,” she replied quickly.

This response only seemed to amplify Alaric’s confusion. He stared at Hope like he couldn’t recall her ever saying that she wanted to help.

Hope tried to get the conversation moving before Alaric could say something that would expose her lie. “What are you here for?” she barked, the intense delivery of her question clashing with its content.

Alaric jumped a little at the force of her voice. “Uh,” he started. “I just came to grab an artifact that Dorian thinks we need to bring Landon back.”

Hope’s face fell. “Oh,” she replied. She felt a bit guilty for not worrying about Landon more. “Uh… how is that whole situation going?”

Alaric shrugged, but he looked relieved that the topic had shifted into something less awkward. “It’s the same. He’s still stable, we’re getting a ritual set up,” he explained. Alaric gave Hope a slightly suspicious look. “I kind of expected you to be more involved in figuring it out, to be honest.”

“Oh,” Hope said again, frowning. She’d been saying ‘oh’ a lot lately, she noticed. “Uh… do you need me to do something?”

Josie crossed her arms over her chest, taking a step forward. “ _Or_ , Dad,” she intercepted. “Maybe you should let Hope rest for a couple of days. I thought you said that you and Dorian had this handled.” She gave Alaric a stern look, as though they’d had this conversation before.

Alaric flinched, looking a bit like a scolded child. “You’re right,” Alaric relented. “Don’t worry, Hope. We have a solid plan. Dorian has to make a quick run to Europe to pick up another artifact, anyway, so for now we’re at a bit of a standstill. But we have it under control.”

Hope nodded, crossing her arms over her chest like Josie had. The room fell back into an awkward silence.

Alaric glanced around, then moved to grab something from the top of the miscellaneous pile. “I’ll, uh, see you guys later,” he said quickly. “Thanks for cleaning up, by the way. I appreciate it.” 

Hope gave Alaric a nod and a small smile, which he returned. Then he spun around and left, closing the door gently behind him. 

After a fleeting, nervous glance at Hope, Josie sat back down on the floor. She leaned forward to start sorting through the weapons again. Hope pouted. Great. Not only was Josie back to juggling dangerous weapons, but she was also pretending that nothing had happened. 

And maybe nothing _had_ happened, Hope thought to herself. Maybe it was all in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Thanks so much for the support! Your comments make my day. I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think!


	11. Spying

Hope found herself once again seated in the corner of the cafeteria. It was pleasant, being surrounded by people without having to interact with them. It alleviated her loneliness without making her feel too suffocated.

Or, at least it did on the rare occasion that Lizzie allowed her to sit there alone.

Lizzie was the definition of suffocating. She had a newfound talent for facilitating chaos and embarrassment in Hope’s life. She seemed to enjoy it, too, especially when it involved tormenting Hope about her feelings for Josie.

To make things worse, Hope’s feelings for Josie were more difficult to figure out than ever. It had only been a day since the armory incident. Hope was still very confused about it. 

For a moment, she had been almost certain that Josie was about to kiss her. But then Dr. Saltzman interrupted, and Hope was no longer certain about anything. Josie acted all quiet and nervous afterward, and they only made awkward small talk for the rest of the night.

Hope derived little satisfaction from the fact that the armory was now spotless. Dr. Saltzman was equal parts confused and grateful that Hope and Josie had randomly decided to do something so selfless without any prompting at all. Hope didn't think she'd ever be able to explain the truth of it to him.

Hope just wanted to leave the whole incident behind her and never discuss it again. In fact, she wanted to leave all of these recent, embarrassing Josie-related events behind her and never discuss them again.

Lizzie would never allow that to happen, though. Unfortunately for Hope, Lizzie seemed to have realized that lunch was the perfect opportunity for an ambush. 

Lizzie suddenly slid into the seat next to Hope in a manner that gave Hope war flashbacks to a few days before. Hope nearly instinctively tackled her before she realized what was happening. Then Hope sighed, bracing herself for whatever chaos Lizzie had in store for her today.

“So, did you figure out what Josie was brooding about?” Lizzie drawled, poking absentmindedly at a chicken nugget on her tray. “Or do I have to do everything myself?”

Hope scowled. She shot Lizzie a half-hearted glare, which Lizzie promptly ignored. “Oh, I figured it out, all right,” Hope replied. “Your training backfired. She thinks I’m into _you_.”

Lizzie frowned. “Into me?” She stabbed the chicken nugget with her fork to display her disinterest.

“Yes. Into you,” Hope grumbled, poking at her potatoes. “Like, as in, attracted to you.”

Lizzie sighed deeply. She pushed the chicken nugget off of her fork with a displeased frown. “And why would she think that?” Lizzie asked. “Did you tell her that you’re into me?”

“No!” Hope hissed, affronted. “Of course not! I told her that I am very much _not_ into you.”

Lizzie stared Hope down, cocking her head to the side. “Then she no longer thinks that you’re into me,” Lizzie claimed, waving her fork and raising an eyebrow like Hope should already know this.

Hope pouted. “You don’t get it,” she mumbled miserably, poking at her potatoes again. “I panicked. I started acting weird. She probably thinks I was lying.”

Lizzie shook her head with an exasperated roll of her eyes. “Hope, we are talking about the girl who trusted gender-bent Mary Poppins when he encouraged her to break the arms of mortals and store her darkness in a shady-looking hourglass,” Lizzie drawled sarcastically. “If you told her that you are not into me, she believes you. Especially because you weren’t lying about that. Right?”

Hope recoiled. “Ew! Obviously!”

Lizzie scowled. “Don’t act so disgusted," she snapped. "You would be lucky to date me. Unfortunately for you, the thought of your desire to do more than look at my sister is my anti-Patronus.”

Hope averted eye contact with a furious blush. “Wow. How truly unfortunate for me,” she muttered to herself, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

Lizzie huffed, frustrated. “All I’m getting from this conversation is that you had the perfect opportunity to tell Josie that you have feelings for her, and you chickened out.”

Hope pouted, now refusing to look up from her potatoes. “I…,” she trailed off. Hope deflated, completely miserable. “Lizzie, what am I going to do?” she whined quietly under her breath.

Lizzie glared, stabbing her own fork violently into Hope’s potatoes. Hope jumped, startled. “You’re going to tell her how you feel, you idiot!” Lizzie hissed impatiently.

Hope shifted, obviously uncomfortable. “I don’t know how to do that,” she groaned.

“Clearly,” Lizzie said. Lizzie’s eyes drifted over to look at Josie, who was talking to MG with a huge smile on her face. “Lucky for you, you have my help. And it’s time for phase two.”

Hope tensed and stared at Lizzie, confused and apprehensive. “What? What’s phase two?” she asked. “What was phase one?”

Lizzie briefly glanced over at Hope, unimpressed. “Get with the program, Courage the Cowardly Dog. Phase one was date bootcamp, phase two is the actual date. Did you think we did all of that for fun?”

Hope rolled her eyes, responding to the nickname with a displeased frown. She followed Lizzie’s gaze to look at Josie, her expression softening as she watched Josie throw her head back in laughter. Josie’s laugh was truly beautiful, Hope thought to herself. It lit up the whole room.

Hope’s vision was obstructed when Lizzie shoved her hand in her line of sight, snapping her fingers twice. “Earth to Hope,” Lizzie called out sarcastically. 

Hope felt another heavy blush coming on, so she stared down at her tray and stabbed a baby carrot. “Sorry,” she muttered without looking up.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, releasing an exaggerated sigh. “Whatever. You’d better be up for this, I can’t do this part for you.”

Hope frowned, looking up. “Up for what?” she asked, her voice laced with dread.

Lizzie groaned. “Do you know how exhausting it is for me, having to walk you through everything step by step?” she complained. “Just ask her out already, Hope! It’s not like she’ll say no.”

Hope’s eyes widened. She seemed very nervous all of a sudden, squirming in her seat. She looked over at Josie for a moment before looking back to Lizzie again. “Do... you really think she’d say yes?” she asked hesitantly.

Lizzie looked at Hope like she was stupid. “Um, _duh_ ,” Lizzie replied with a scowl. “Are you seriously this oblivious? Honestly, Hope, sometimes I feel like you’re just messing with me at this point.”

Hope scowled. “Oh, you think _I’m_ messing with _you?_ ” she drawled sarcastically. Hope’s eyes darted over to Josie, her scowl devolving into an apprehensive frown. “I wouldn’t even know what to say,” Hope admitted.

Lizzie scoffed. “How about, _hey, I’m hopelessly in love with you and have finally admitted it to myself, do you want to go on a date?”_ Lizzie suggested, her voice imitating Hope’s rather inaccurately.Hope’s frown deepened. Lizzie rolled her eyes again. “Okay, _fine_ ,” she whined. “I guess I really _do_ have to do everything.”

Lizzie dropped her fork gracelessly onto her plate. She grasped Hope’s wrist suddenly, her hand glowing red as a telltale sign that she was siphoning. She whispered an incantation under her breath before releasing Hope’s wrist again, her voice too hushed for Hope to make it out.

Hope yelped, surprised at the suddenness of it all. “Lizzie, what did you just do?” she hissed frantically, trying to keep her voice down.

Lizzie cleared her throat. When she spoke, Hope heard Lizzie’s voice echo in her own head. “MG told me you used this spell when you forced him to go on that date with Alyssa,” Lizzie explained. “Now I’ll be able to hear what you’re saying and tell you what to say if you start floundering around like an idiot again.”

Hope stared at Lizzie in disbelief. “No. Absolutely not,” she said firmly.

“Oh, come on, Hope. You won’t even notice I’m there,” Lizzie argued. “I promise, I’ll be quiet unless it starts looking like you need me to save you from yourself. Like last time.”

Hope frowned, clearly still not thrilled with the idea. 

“Don’t fight me on this, it’s for your own good,” Lizzie commanded. “Come on, the sooner you go over there the sooner this will be over.”

Hope continued to frown, but she put up little resistance when Lizzie nudged her to try to get her to stand up. “Fine,” Hope relented. Her eyes shone with nervousness, but she stood and put her fork down on her plate. “Just… promise me you won’t make fun me while I’m talking to her,” she begged reluctantly.

“I promise,” Lizzie replied, laying her hand over her heart with mock seriousness. “Now, go forth and conquer, young padawan.”

Hope glared weakly at Lizzie, but she spun around to approach Josie before she could lose her nerve. 

The rest of the Super Squad must’ve either been busy today or left early, Hope figured, because MG was the only one with her at the table. As Hope got closer, Josie’s eyes darted up to stare at her over his shoulder. 

Hope watched Josie’s eyes flood with fondness and excitement. Hope couldn’t help but smile, but she felt the panic beginning to build when she came to a halt a few feet away from them.

“Hey, Hope,” Josie greeted with a warm grin. 

Hope felt a wave of butterflies waging war in her stomach. She cursed herself for being so soft. “Hey,” she echoed, nervously glancing down and shoving her hands in her pockets because she didn’t know what to do with them.

MG spun around slightly in his seat. “Oh, hi, Hope,” he said with a friendly smile. MG seemed to sense Hope’s nervousness. He glanced back and forth between Hope and Josie, trying to be subtle about it. “Uh… I was actually just about to go get seconds,” he said quickly, sliding out of his seat. “I'll be right back.”

Hope’s stomach flipped as she registered that MG was about to leave her alone with Josie. She smiled politely at MG as he walked by. 

Hope knew that it was going to be much easier to have this conversation without an audience, but it still enhanced her panic. She was suddenly confronted with the reality of why she had come over here in the first place. Now she had no excuse _not_ to ask Josie out.

Hope shifted nervously on her feet, but looked back over at Josie again.

Josie was still looking at her with the same beaming smile. Her eyes were practically sparkling. It was a stark contrast to the awkwardness that had been radiating off of Josie last night in the armory. It took Hope’s breath away, which Hope thought was very unfair. 

Josie chuckled. “You can sit down, you know,” she teased, gesturing lazily to the chair across from her.

“Oh… uh, right,” Hope replied dumbly, taking the suggestion and sitting down. Something in Josie’s expression was making her feel like a deer caught in headlights. It almost seemed as if Josie knew something Hope didn’t know.

“So, how was your day?” Josie asked with a soft smile. She looked down to pick up a French fry, mercifully giving Hope a moment to breathe.

“Um, good. My day was good,” Hope answered quickly. Hope recalled the disastrous fake-dating exercise, where Lizzie had made fun of her for asking the exact same question. She watched Josie take a bite of the French fry. After an excessively long pause, Hope suddenly realized that the socially acceptable thing would be to ask Josie about her day, too. “How was yours?” she blurted out, a tinge of panic in her voice.

Josie looked up at Hope, clearly amused. She allowed the silence to extend for a moment as she chewed and swallowed the fry, watching Hope squirm uncomfortably in her seat. “Better now,” Josie replied simply, the corner of her lip curling up into a crooked grin.

Hope felt a flood of raw, unadulterated panic. _Why is she looking at me like that, can she read minds?_ she asked herself. She knew that Dark Josie had seemed sort of psychic. Maybe Josie somehow retained that ability?

Hope knew that she probably looked as red as the ketchup Josie was currently dipping another fry into. Knowing this only made her feel more embarrassed. She absolutely hated that Josie could make her feel this way without even trying. Josie kept her gaze fixated on her fry, probably trying to give Hope a moment to recover.

Hope must've remained silent for too long, because suddenly Lizzie’s voice was booming obnoxiously in her head. “Tell her you think she’s pretty,” Lizzie commanded. 

Hope nearly launched out of her chair, having forgotten about Lizzie altogether. Her eyes widened, darting in Lizzie’s general direction. “No,” she hissed harshly under her breath.

Josie looked up. Her brow furrowed in response to Hope’s distress. She dropped the fry back down onto her plate. “Hope?” she called out, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“No!” Hope replied quickly, immediately tuning back into the moment.

It seemed like Josie wasn’t convinced that there wasn't anything wrong, but she didn't try to force Hope to talk. “Oh. Okay,” Josie said uncertainly, picking the fry back up and looking down at her plate to dip it in ketchup again.

Hope heard Lizzie’s exasperated sigh resounding in her head, and she regretted all of the life choices that led up to this moment. “Hope, just swallow your pride and do as I say,” Lizzie snapped. “Tell her that she looks pretty.”

Hope tensed, annoyed. She briefly wished that the spell allowed Lizzie to read her mind, since every thought in her head was begging Lizzie to shut up. She looked down to nervously twiddle with her thumbs and actively tried to will herself to appear sane.

Josie shifted slightly in her seat, maybe sensing the sudden, inexplicable tension. She glanced at Hope, who was still looking down to try to avoid eye contact. Josie opened and closed her mouth a couple times, uncertain of whether or not she should say something. She finally mustered up the courage. “You know, Hope, you’re always welcome to come and sit with us whenever you –”

“You look really pretty today, Jo,” Hope interrupted, feeling her blush return with a vengeance.

Josie’s eyes widened, her lips remaining parted in shock as she trailed off mid-sentence. After a long pause, Josie closed her mouth and cleared her throat. “Oh,” she replied quietly, shock evident in her voice. “Thanks,” she continued with a shy smile, averting eye contact and blushing herself. 

Hope almost allowed herself to feel proud of eliciting such an adorable reaction, but the moment was cut short when Lizzie decided to chime in once again. “Good job.” Lizzie’s patronizing voice echoed in her mind. Hope frowned at how much it sounded like Lizzie was praising a dog for doing a trick correctly. “Now ask her if she wants to howl at the moon and cuddle with you later.”

Hope felt red-hot anger prickling at the base of her throat and was barely able to stop herself from telling Lizzie to fuck off. She knew that it would probably be a very confusing thing for Josie to witness. 

In fact, Josie was probably one out-of-context remark away from suspecting that Hope was completely losing her mind. This entire interaction already had _‘disaster’_ written all over it, especially considering that Lizzie was so consistently infuriating.

Hope realized that it was probably for the best if she escaped as soon as possible before Lizzie made her embarrass herself. Luckily, MG chose that exact moment to come back. He slid into the seat next to Hope with a huge pile of fries on his plate. "Mission accomplished," he told them both with a satisfied smile.

Hope saw this as the perfect opportunity to leave. She cleared her throat. “Uh, I actually have to go," Hope said apologetically. "It was good to see you guys, though.”

MG seemed surprised that Hope suddenly wanted to leave. He glanced at Josie uncertainly, almost like he wasn’t sure if he’d made a mistake in coming back too soon. 

For her part, Josie looked confused and a little bit disappointed. Hope figured that Josie had probably expected the conversation to go somewhere significant. Hope frowned, standing up. She had had higher hopes for the conversation, too.

“Oh, alright. See you later, Hope,” MG said with a friendly wave over his shoulder, already over his surprise and focused on shoving a handful of fries into his mouth.

“Later,” Hope said, avoiding eye contact with an openly pouting Josie.

Hope spun and went straight toward the exit instead of back toward Lizzie, not wanting to face the blonde. She didn’t have much luck, though, because Lizzie relentlessly followed her.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Lizzie called after Hope, who was attempting to retreat down the hallway. “What happened? Why didn’t you ask her out?” 

Hope spun on her heel, pinning Lizzie with a venomous glare. “I am proud that I even managed to say anything at all with you _screaming in my ear_ ,” she growled. “What the hell was that, Lizzie? You promised not to make fun of me!”

Lizzie recoiled with a gasp, affronted at the accusation. “I was not _making fun_ of you,” she claimed, one hand resting over her heart while the other balanced both of their plates stacked on top of each other.

“How is telling me to ask her to howl at the moon not making fun of me?!” Hope nearly yelled, throwing her hands in the air.

“I was being completely serious, Hope,” Lizzie answered, sending Hope a stern glare. “She would’ve thought it was cute.”

Hope scoffed. “Lizzie, I would _never_ say something like that!” she snapped, exasperated.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Well, no offense, but letting you say what you want to say is clearly not working,” she replied haughtily. “In case you haven’t noticed, we have made no significant progress. We are standing in the same hallway, having the same conversation we had last week."

Hope looked around the hall, deflating slightly as she realized that Lizzie was right. She didn't bother to try to hide the frustrated pout that spread over her face.

"Listen, Hope," Lizzie continued, gently resting a hand on Hope's shoulder. "I am trying to help you. If you want this to happen, you have to learn to follow my lead.”

Hope crossed her arms over her chest defensively, frowning and diverting her glare to the wall. “Fine, whatever,” she mumbled reluctantly. “But you need to get it through your head that I am never going to ask Josie to _howl at the moon_ with me." 

Lizzie pursed her lips, apparently unhappy with the request. "Okay, fine," she agreed.

Hope paused to think for a moment, scuffing her shoe against the floor like a petulant child. "And we're never doing the earpiece thing again, that was a nightmare," she complained. "She’ll think that I’ve started hearing voices.”

Lizzie sighed dramatically, rolling her eyes. “Ugh, _fine_! God, you make it so difficult to help you.”

Lizzie stomped away in a huff. Hope frowned, watching Lizzie turn around the corner. She really wished that Lizzie would realize that Hope had never asked for her help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this update took longer than usual! Slight writer's block. This chapter's on the longer side, I hope that makes up for it! :)


	12. Plotting

The gardens at the Salvatore School were excessively large. They were also surprisingly well-maintained for a school that was so constantly preoccupied with saving the world. 

After Lizzie invaded Hope’s corner of the cafeteria for the second time, Hope decided to retreat to the gardens for lunch instead. She found an isolated area with a bench where she could eat and sketch in peace. 

Strategically, it was perfect. There was a tall hedge blocking the view of her from the entrance. She figured it was unlikely that Lizzie would ever find her here.

She wasn’t hiding, per se. It was just more peaceful in the gardens – or so she told herself. Sure, Hope had to fight the instinct to flinch and duck behind a shrub every time she saw a flash of blonde hair in her periphery, but that didn’t mean that she was scared.

She was Hope Mikaelson, the badass tribrid who regularly fought terrifying monsters. She wasn’t afraid of Lizzie Saltzman just because Lizzie wouldn’t stop taunting her about a crush. That would be ridiculous. Lizzie was just annoying, and Hope preferred to be far away from her.

She missed being able to see Josie, though. 

Hope’s embarrassing habit of staring at Josie in the cafeteria had shifted into a far more embarrassing habit of sketching Josie from memory. She usually didn’t even realize that she was doing it until it was time to pack up and leave. It was as if the lines Hope drew on the page morphed into Josie’s face of their own accord. 

As a result, Hope was gradually accumulating more and more physical evidence of her crush. It was borderline mortifying, but she took comfort in the fact that no one was around to witness it. 

Hope successfully followed this new routine for a few days. She was finally beginning to feel safe and secure in her new hideaway when Lizzie chose to ruin it.

Hope was seated on the bench with one leg folded underneath her and her sketchbook perched on her lap. She was staring down at her latest sketch, attempting to concentrate. 

She was rudely interrupted.

“What are you doing?” Lizzie more or less shouted into Hope’s ear, having somehow managed to sneak up on Hope from behind.

Hope jumped and actually fell off the bench, releasing a panicked yelp as she plummeted to the ground. Her sketchbook rolled off of her lap and landed next to her. 

As Hope was still processing the fact that she was now suddenly viewing the world from a few feet below where she had been, Lizzie snatched her sketchbook off of the ground. She flipped it open to take a look at Hope’s most recent drawing of Josie. 

Hope blushed and attempted to collect herself, staring intently at a nearby shrub. She could picture the sketch without looking at the page. It was extremely detailed. She had a feeling that Lizzie would interpret that as proof of how much staring Hope had been doing rather than as a testament to Hope’s artistic ability.

Lizzie pursed her lips. She took an agonizingly long moment to evaluate what she was seeing. Then, she said matter-of-factly, “You’re so whipped.” Hope flinched. Lizzie didn’t notice. She didn’t even look up from the drawing, continuing to study it. She shrugged after a moment, raising her eyebrows. “It’s pretty good, though,” she concluded.

Hope scowled and scrambled to her feet, finally snapping out of her shock. “Give me that,” she spat, grabbing the sketchbook out of Lizzie’s hands. “It’s private.”

Hope defensively clutched the sketchbook to her chest and felt her blush intensify. She couldn’t even make eye contact.

Lizzie frowned. “Stop making it weird,” she commanded, crossing her arms over her chest. “I hate secondhand embarrassment.”

Hope’s scowl deepened. “How did you even find me?” she muttered, turning to shove her sketchbook back in her bag as a futile attempt to hide her blush.

Lizzie shrugged. “You’re not as stealthy as you think you are,” she explained, as though it were obvious.

Hope glared, pulling her bag over her shoulder. Her patience was already depleted. She turned to walk back toward the school, having decided that she was done with the conversation.

Lizzie grabbed Hope’s wrist before she could get far. “If it helps,” she began. “What you lack in subtlety, you make up for in brute force.”

Hope cocked her head to the side, aiming an exasperated look at an innocent rosebush. “It doesn’t help,” she retorted without enthusiasm.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at Hope’s stubbornness. “Alright, Eeyore, I didn’t come here for fun,” Lizzie admitted. “I have a question.” 

Hope pulled her wrist out of Lizzie’s grasp, turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow and an apprehensive frown.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” Lizzie asked.

Hope crossed her arms over her chest, suspiciously scanning Lizzie’s expression to search for an ulterior motive. “Ideally nothing,” she answered carefully.

“Welp, cancel that,” Lizzie replied immediately. It seemed that she had been planning to say that regardless of the content of Hope’s answer. “There’s a party at the Old Mill.”

Hope frowned, unimpressed with the proposition. “Oh. Uh, thanks for the invitation and everything, but I’d really rather do nothing, as I had originally planned,” she snarked. Hope gave Lizzie a meaningful look. “I want some alone time.”

Lizzie apparently didn’t get the hint. “You can have alone time Saturday morning while you nurse your hangover,” Lizzie dismissed with a wave of her hand.

Hope’s frown deepened. “No,” she said, simply but firmly.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Look, _Hope_ ,” she said, emphasizing Hope’s name like it was distasteful for some reason. “I know you like the lone wolf aesthetic, but now that there’s no reason for you to be prancing around chasing abominable snowmen or whatever, you need to find alternative ways to stay relevant.” Lizzie paused to accommodate Hope’s scoff before continuing. “Even if it’s just brooding in a corner where people can see you.”

For a moment, Hope just clenched her jaw and pinned Lizzie with a blank stare. “I prefer to brood where people can’t see me, actually,” she drawled sarcastically.

Lizzie gave Hope a stern glare. “Well, too bad. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve somehow managed to become one of the few people I regularly associate with,” Lizzie sassed. “And that means that you are not allowed to become a loser. You’re going.”

Once again, Hope realized that Lizzie would do just about anything to get her way. It dawned on her that resistance was futile. Hope uncrossed her arms and clenched her fists at her sides. “What time does it start?” she groaned miserably.

Lizzie smiled, victorious.

* * *

Hope found herself reluctantly venturing out to the Old Mill the next night. She was fashionably late – it was seven-fifteen, and Lizzie had told her that the party started at seven. She planned to leave fashionably early, as well.

She had the whole night planned out. She was going to make an excuse after a couple of hours and get the hell out of there. She figured it wouldn’t have to be too painful in the meantime – she had started to grow fond of people-watching based on her recent experiences in the cafeteria, anyway.

Her plan was pretty much immediately ruined, though, when the Old Mill came into view and she realized that there were no people around to watch.

Hope was perplexed when she couldn’t spot a single person or even an abandoned red solo cup. Her first thought was that she might've misheard Lizzie and shown up at the wrong time, or even on the wrong night. She then became anxious that it might be related to some sort of monster activity.

When she investigated further, Hope was almost relieved to find Lizzie lighting a candle inside the Old Mill. The relief was short-lived; Lizzie was alone and Hope still had no idea what was going on.

“Lizzie, where is everyone?” Hope asked in place of a greeting, her voice dripping with confusion.

Lizzie spun around. She looked pleased to see that Hope had shown up. Lizzie hesitated for a split second, but then she just shrugged. “I guess they're running late,” she speculated absentmindedly, as though it made all the sense in the world. She spun back around, moving to light another candle.

Hope frowned, her brow furrowing. “Everyone at the same time?” she asked, still confused. Lizzie seemed not bothered at all by the fact that no one else had arrived. It wasn’t like Lizzie at all, Hope thought to herself. Especially because Lizzie was the only one here setting up, which implied that the party had been Lizzie’s idea. Hope would've expected that Lizzie would be infuriated at the idea that anyone had blown off her invitation and – oh. Hope’s face fell as realization dawned in her eyes. “There isn’t a party, is there,” Hope said to herself, a deadened look in her eye.

Lizzie didn’t even bother to turn around. “There is a party,” she replied, an evasive tinge to her voice. “The guest list is just very exclusive. Josie will be here soon.”

Hope shook her head, in utter disbelief. “Lizzie, why didn’t you just _tell me_ that this was a plan?!” she nearly yelled.

Lizzie did turn around at this, but she seemed to be indifferent about Hope’s hostility. “Because then you wouldn’t have come,” Lizzie stated simply, as though it were obvious.

Hope gaped, unable to process the fact that Lizzie was truly, unapologetically like this. Hope closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. “You’re right. I would not have come,” Hope replied slowly, her voice sounding strained as she attempted to force herself to remain calm. Hope opened her eyes to look around at the room, taking in the candles and the pretty quilt that Lizzie had neatly draped over the couch. It only made her angrier. “This is so fucking obvious! She’s going to know!”

Lizzie pursed her lips, shrugging nonchalantly in a way that infuriated Hope to her core. “Josie will forget all about the fact that other people should’ve shown up as soon as she catches sight of your ocean-blue heart eyes and supernaturally toned biceps,” Lizzie snarked. Hope just scoffed, so Lizzie continued. “Oh, come on. Seriously, Hope, _who_ _cares_ if it’s obvious? Maybe she’ll acknowledge it and you can finally get this whole thing moving. Then I won’t have to waste the rest of my life trying to push the two of you together.”

Hope barely restrained an animalistic growl, her periphery tinting gold. “No one asked you to _push_ anyone,” she hissed furiously. Every muscle in her body tensed. “Lizzie, this has gone too far. I don’t need your help. I can deal with my feelings on my own.”

Lizzie looked nearly as fed up with Hope as Hope was fed up with her. “And by _deal with_ you mean repress and ignore and cover up so that you can avoid the soul-crushing experience of feeling vulnerable,” Lizzie accused, propping her hands on her hips.

Hope recoiled as though she’d been burned, her bravado collapsing.

Lizzie pinned Hope with a stern glare. “Well, that’s all well and good, Spock. Except for the fact that Josie is terrified of rejection, too, so if one of you doesn’t step up, I will be forced to observe as you yearn after each other until we are all geriatrics. It’s painful to watch. You two would already be _canoodling_ right now if you'd just put yourself out there for five minutes,” she ranted. Hope flinched again in response to the word _canoodling._ “I’d rather not have to watch my sister and my best friend brood eternally over what they both want when they could just have it,” Lizzie concluded.

There was a beat of silence. Hope’s jaw slackened and she stared at Lizzie blankly. “Best friend?” she asked dumbly.

Lizzie stilled for a split second, as though she was just now realizing what she’d said. She quickly covered it up by rolling her eyes with an exasperated groan. “Oh, _shut up_ ,” she complained. “I can’t believe that’s the only thing you got out of everything I just said.”

Hope fought the grin that she felt starting to spread over her face, momentarily forgetting that she was furious about the whole situation.

Lizzie quickly tried to change the subject before Hope could make the best friend thing a bigger deal than it was. “Anyway,” she started, picking up her backpack and opening it up. “I brought chocolate and some illicit substances,” she said. She pulled out a box of chocolates, which Hope was grateful to see was not heart shaped. Lizzie shoved the chocolate into Hope’s hands and then pulled out a bottle of wine.

Hope frowned as the wine was presented to her. “Put that away,” she ordered.

Lizzie cocked her head to the side. “I didn’t realize that you were a stickler for the law,” she mocked.

Hope looked down at her shoes, embarrassed. “I already act like an idiot around her sober, I don’t think that will improve if I’m intoxicated,” she muttered under her breath.

“Hm,” Lizzie hummed, looking deep in thought. “You know what, maybe you’re right for once.” She put the wine back into her backpack. “Anyway, she should show up any minute now, since you chose to be late and she tends to be early. I told her to get here at seven-thirty.”

Hope’s eyes widened. It hit her that this was real, and she began to feel a familiar building panic.

“Let’s just quickly go through the plan,” Lizzie continued. “First, Josie shows up. I facilitate the awkward ice breaker that you can’t seem to handle and get you two on the couch. We deflect if she asks any questions about the candles or the fact that no one’s here.” Lizzie’s words began to come out rapidly and smooshed together, much like the list of warnings at the end of an infomercial for a new medication. “I make an excuse to leave, you seduce her, then you live happily ever after, the end.”

Hope almost choked on air. “What do you mean, _I seduce her?!”_ she hissed frantically under her breath, trying and failing to keep her voice down.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Look, if you don’t know what to say, just offer her some chocolate and see where it goes from there. Don’t think too far ahead, you’ll freak yourself out,” she instructed. Lizzie looked at Hope skeptically, as though she were uncertain of Hope’s ability to pull any of this off. Hope glared, because it did nothing to help her confidence. Lizzie sighed. “And are you sure you don’t want the wine? Maybe it could help you chill out or something.”

“I don’t want the wine,” Hope mumbled with a frown, wringing her hands together anxiously.

Lizzie’s eyes softened ever so slightly in response to the fact that Hope was now radiating pure anxiety. “There, there,” Lizzie said awkwardly, patting Hope on the head with a grimace, as though she had no idea how to comfort a person. “You’ll be fine. We just had a whole conversation and you didn’t forget English once. Just pretend she’s not her.”

Hope’s eyes narrowed. She was about to tell Lizzie that that advice was extremely unhelpful, but she heard a stick crack outside and footsteps coming toward them.

Josie walked into the room. Hope's eyes wandered. Josie's hair was up in a ponytail. Her blouse left the sharp line of her collarbone exposed. She was wearing the necklace Hope had given her for her birthday.

Hope gulped. She had a terrible feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I appreciate all of the kudos and comments! I hope you're all staying safe out there.


	13. Directing

Josie walked into the Old Mill like she was uncertain of whether or not she should be there. She relaxed when she caught sight of Hope and Lizzie standing by the couch. Her eyes brightened considerably as Hope spun around to look at her. 

“Hey, guys,” Josie greeted with a little nervous wave. She glanced around the room, frowning when she noticed that it didn’t look prepared for a party at all. There were a few scattered candles laying around, but there were absolutely no snacks or drinks. More importantly, there were no people. Josie shifted on her feet, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “Is no one else here yet?”

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest with a venomous glare. “What, are we not good enough for you?” she snapped. 

Hope spun back around to stare at Lizzie in disbelief. She barely resisted the urge to facepalm. This was not what she thought Lizzie had meant when she said that they would deflect.

Josie just kind of froze, her eyes widening as her confusion only solidified. “What? I… uh,” she sputtered, having no idea how to react to Lizzie’s random hostility. “That’s… that isn't what I meant.”

“Good,” Lizzie said, uncrossing her arms. Hope nearly got whiplash from how calm and neutral she sounded all of a sudden. Lizzie took a few steps toward Josie, lightly patting Hope on the shoulder as she passed. “Because Hope was just telling me about how excited she was to see you, and only you. It would be awkward if you didn’t feel the same.”

Hope made a frantic noise of protest, trying and failing to fight off a blush. She shoved Lizzie’s shoulder with just enough force to make her stumble forward a couple steps. Lizzie ignored her.

Josie’s eyebrows raised in surprise. The corner of her lip twitched. She seemed too disoriented to figure out whether or not she should smile.

Lizzie didn’t give her much time to consider it. “You know what we should do? We should all go sit on the couch,” she said abruptly. She grabbed Josie’s wrist and dragged her toward the couch before anyone could respond. 

Josie’s brow furrowed. She stared at the back of Lizzie’s head as she was dragged across the room, probably wondering if her sister had finally lost it. “Um… okay then,” she mumbled to herself with a frown. Lizzie grabbed Josie by the shoulders and forced her to sit down.

Then, Lizzie spun back around and glared at Hope, seemingly annoyed that the tribrid was not already on her way to the couch. “Hope, heel,” Lizzie commanded with an impatient frown, pointing at the spot next to Josie.

Hope scoffed, glowering at Lizzie. She wasn’t too happy about the order, but she figured that cooperating was her best shot at getting through this fiasco as soon as possible. She made her way to the couch, leaving a healthy amount of space between her and Josie to avoid making things even more awkward than they were already turning out to be.

Lizzie smiled as Hope sat down. “Good girl.” 

Hope scowled. “ _Don’t_ push it,” she growled under her breath.

Lizzie just continued to smile, apparently very pleased with herself. She approached the couch, too, but she veered off to the side at the last moment. “Look what I brought,” she said, reaching behind the couch. Josie peered over the armrest to try to see what she was doing. 

Lizzie picked up a ukulele, which she must’ve deliberately kept out of Hope's sight earlier. Hope frowned, not understanding why Lizzie seemed to enjoy blindsiding her.

Lizzie shoved the ukulele into Josie’s hands. Josie stared at it blankly. It seemed to take her a moment to register what she was now holding. “Oh,” she mumbled, clearly still confused. Josie looked up at Lizzie hesitantly. “Did you… I mean, do you want me to play this, or…?”

Lizzie grinned mischievously. “Well, _I_ don’t want you to, but _Hope_ does,” she hinted, even going as far as giving Josie an exaggerated wink. Hope tensed, feeling her heartbeat fall out of rhythm. 

Lizzie didn’t notice Hope’s discomfort; she was too busy attempting to casually insert herself between Josie and the armrest that Josie had been leaning on. It ended up not being casual at all; it was, in fact, disruptive and borderline aggressive. Josie was forced to scoot closer to Hope to avoid being crushed. 

The couch was certainly large enough for three people to sit on without having to touch each other, but this apparently wasn’t a part of Lizzie’s plan. “Man, I am _so_ tired,” Lizzie complained, something about her voice striking Hope as obviously fake. Lizzie let out an exaggerated yawn, stretching obnoxiously in a way that caused her elbow to ram into Josie’s shoulder. Josie winced and had to shift even closer to Hope to get away from it. 

After Lizzie’s arm stretch, she braced herself against the armrest and twisted to stretch her back. She was equally as inconsiderate about this, arching her back dramatically in a way that caused her hip to collide with Josie’s. It had the unfortunate consequence of pushing Josie even further into Hope. 

Instead of apologizing, Lizzie pretended not to notice and stretched even more vehemently. After another hip collision, Josie and Hope wound up with their sides pressed flush against each other. 

When Lizzie was satisfied, she settled back into the couch. She left at least a foot of space between herself and the arm rest, keeping Hope and Josie smooshed together on one side of the couch. Hope got the weird feeling that she had just been rounded up like a herd animal.

Josie gave Hope an apologetic glance, but she looked away with a blush when she realized just how close they were. Hope felt herself beginning to panic.

There was an awkward moment of silence as they all sat in this position. Josie stared down at the ukulele in her lap, more confused about what was happening than anything else. Hope appeared to be moments away from dissociating to cope with the stress. Lizzie was beaming enthusiastically at the both of them, either oblivious to the tension or thoroughly enjoying it.

After allowing it to make everyone uncomfortable, Lizzie broke the silence. “Welp, I’m going to leave before you play that, because I hate music,” she claimed, gesturing to the ukulele in Josie’s hands. Lizzie hopped off of the couch. “I’ll just run to the bathroom.” 

Lizzie basically skipped out the door with a gleeful smirk. Hope sighed, finding it hard to believe that Lizzie was being so obvious about all of this. 

There was a moment of silence. Then, Hope opened her mouth to speak. 

Whatever Hope intended to say never made it out into the world, though, because Lizzie suddenly returned. Hope flinched when she appeared once again in the doorway. 

Lizzie took a couple steps into the room before coming to a halt, facing Hope and Josie head-on. “I’ll be a while, because the bathroom’s all the way back at the school, and I move slowly,” she explained. Hope’s eyelid twitched, irritated by the unnecessary comment. Lizzie looked off to the side for a moment, thinking, and then she shrugged. “It’s also very possible that I won’t come back at all.” She punctuated this statement with a grin and another exaggerated wink that made Hope want to collapse back into herself. “Have fun!”

Lizzie trotted out the door again, and the sudden stillness was disconcerting. Hope was forced to confront the butterflies she was battling with, which felt more like a pack of angry wolves mauling her from the inside out. She stared at the doorway, wondering if Lizzie was going to be extra obnoxious and come back a second time.

Josie pouted, the confusion hitting her all at once. “She doesn’t hate music,” she said aloud to herself, completely bewildered. 

Hope jumped, startled by the disruption of the silence. She turned her head to look at Josie with a frown. 

When they made eye contact, Josie seemed to suddenly realize that they were still pressed right up against each other. Her eyes widened and she scrambled back across the couch to put a bit more space between them. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she mumbled, nervously averting eye contact.

Hope gulped. “No worries, not your fault,” she muttered with an awkward grimace, staring down at the box of chocolate that she was now holding in a death grip.

Josie cleared her throat, collecting herself. “What was that? That was weird,” she began to ramble, obviously anxious. “You thought it was weird, right? Do you think she might be having some kind of episode?”

Hope frowned once again. “Uh, no,” she replied. She had no clue how to explain anything about the situation without giving herself away. She began to fiddle with the lid of the box as an attempt to discharge some of her own anxiety. “I think she’s just… weird.”

They fell back into an uncomfortable silence. Josie seemed lost in thought, probably still trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with Lizzie. Hope began to panic as the silence extended. She suddenly recalled what Lizzie had said about offering Josie chocolate if she didn’t know what to say.

Hope held the box out in front of her. “Do you want any of this?” she asked, forcing herself to look over at Josie again.

Josie returned her stare, surprised. “You brought chocolate?”

“Uh,” Hope grunted. She hadn’t brought it, but she figured that it would be difficult to explain why Lizzie had given it to her. “Yes,” she lied.

“Oh,” Josie said. “Yeah, sure. I’ll have some.”

Hope rested the box on her lap, pulling off the lid. Every muscle in her body tensed when she saw what was inside. There was an envelope inside the box that Lizzie must’ve planted there. Written neatly on the front was _‘To: Josie’_ and _‘From: Hope’_.

Josie raised an eyebrow. “Um, is that for me?” she asked hesitantly.

For a moment, Hope just stared blankly at the envelope, infuriated at Lizzie for leaving absolutely no room for ambiguity. If the envelope’s label wasn’t obvious enough, Lizzie had also gone through the effort of imitating Hope’s handwriting to the point where Hope herself couldn’t even tell the difference. 

“Uh,” Hope repeated, unable to find a way out of this. “I mean, yes?” she replied, her reluctant answer coming across more like a question.

Josie hesitated, but then she picked up the envelope with a shy smile. Hope gulped and prayed that whatever was inside wouldn’t be mortifying enough to force her to skip town. 

Josie glanced over at Hope one more time before carefully flipping the envelope over and opening it. She pulled out a card. The front of it was a simple, generic image of a starry sky.

Hope watched with rapt attention, more anxious than ever before. Before opening the card, Josie gently ran a fingertip over the stars in the image. Hope leaned a bit closer, attempting to be subtle as she looked over Josie’s shoulder to see whatever was inside for herself. 

When Hope saw it, her jaw dropped. She immediately wished that she had told the truth; that she’d claimed that she hadn’t ever seen the letter before, no matter how difficult it would’ve been to explain. 

The contents of the letter were, in fact, mortifying enough to justify skipping town. Lizzie had drawn a little cartoon wolf, and below it she’d written:

_‘If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I'd have a galaxy in my hand._ _Howl at the moon with me Sunday night?’_

The inscription was punctuated with a heart. Lizzie had even forged Hope’s signature right below it – presumably just to rub it in. 

Hope snapped her jaw shut before Josie could notice her shock. She gulped, realizing that her mouth was now incredibly dry. Her eyes fogged over like she was dead inside. 

Hope solemnly decided that she would now have to murder Lizzie Saltzman.

Josie, on the other hand, was smiling uncontrollably. “Oh, my God. This is adorable,” she said quietly to herself. She looked over at Hope, who was sitting very still and looked like she might go into shock from how intensely she was blushing. “And very much something I’d never expect you to say.”

Hope felt slightly relieved to see that Josie was blushing now, too. At least Hope wasn’t the only one. Hope cleared her throat and gulped before speaking. “Yeah, well,” she replied with great difficulty. “Me neither.”

Josie laughed. It was such a joyful sound that Hope’s mind blanked. It almost forced Hope to conclude that this whole mess was worth it. “Of course I’ll howl at the moon with you on Sunday,” Josie murmured, unable to stop grinning. “I’d howl at the moon with you any day.” 

Hope blinked. Then her lips twitched into a surprised frown. She tilted her head to the side, much like a confused puppy. “Really?” she asked, her voice much higher than usual. After a moment, she shook her head to snap herself out of it and gulped, trying to get her shit together. “I mean… uh, okay. Cool.”

Josie laughed again. She seemed to be enjoying the fact that Hope was clearly out of her element, but in an affectionate way. It was a nice contrast to Lizzie’s sadism.

Hope shifted in her seat, her eyes darting around the room anxiously. “Just to be clear, we’re not actually going to howl at the moon,” she mumbled, picking up a piece of chocolate to distract herself. “It’s just… a euphemism, or whatever.”

Josie smirked, her eyes twinkling playfully. “Oh, yeah?” she teased. “A euphemism for what, exactly?”

Hope’s eyes widened with panic. She dropped the chocolate back into the box and tensed, looking up. “No, I just meant…,” she trailed off, swallowing thickly when she realized that she didn’t know what to say.

Josie giggled as Hope began to blush. “I know. I’m just teasing you,” Josie reassured her, nudging Hope in the side with an elbow. Hope slightly relaxed at this, but she was unable to will away her blush. She stared down at her feet to try to hide it. Josie’s beaming smile calmed down a bit, and she stared at Hope curiously for a moment. She shifted to sit cross-legged on the couch, facing Hope directly. “Hope, why have you been acting so nervous around me lately?” she asked softly.

Hope tensed again, the pack of wolves in her stomach flipping out. “Nervous?” she echoed, the question reminding her to put her guard back up. Her mouth settled into a straight line and she steeled her expression, suddenly trying not to give anything away. “I’m not nervous.”

Josie raised her eyebrows. “Hope,” she said with a stern look.

Hope froze. Her poker face faltered under Josie’s stare. “Okay, fine, yes,” she admitted reluctantly. She shifted to mirror Josie, crossing her legs under her. “You make me nervous.”

Josie pouted, looking almost offended by the statement. “But why?” she asked. “I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen you nervous until a couple weeks ago.”

Hope just shrugged. She picked up the chocolate she’d dropped in the box once again, just so she could have an excuse to look somewhere else. 

Josie bit her lip anxiously. “Are you afraid of me?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

Hope’s jaw dropped, and the chocolate once again plummeted through the air and landed back in the box. “What? Of course not!” she replied instantly, snapping to attention. “Why would I be afraid of you?”

Josie shrugged, avoiding eye contact. She now appeared to be the nervous one. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I just thought maybe with the whole temporarily evil thing… and the fact that I almost killed you and everything – ”

“Oh, God, no,” Hope insisted, cutting Josie off. “Is that what you think?” Hope absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair, apparently distressed that Josie would think such a thing. “Jo, I’m not afraid of you. I’m just, like, really dumb.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” a voice suddenly chimed in from the doorway. 

Both Hope and Josie started, their eyes swerving around to watch Alyssa Chang stroll into the Old Mill with a scowl on her face. Kaleb trailed in behind her, looking far more apologetic about interrupting.

Alyssa glanced around at the candles in the room, her scowl only intensifying. “What the hell is all of this?” she asked.

Hope quickly adopted her own matching scowl, her eyes narrowing into a glare. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she growled under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole fic is a love letter to Lizzie's character, in case anyone didn't notice.


	14. Arguing

Alyssa ignored Hope’s glare and continued to glance around the room. The calculating look in her eye made Hope nervous. The last thing Hope needed was for Alyssa to point out how much this looked like a date. 

Hope spun her legs off of the couch and stood up. She took a step toward Alyssa, crossing her arms over her chest. The movement caused Alyssa to finally look over at her. 

Hope seemed to already be moments away from lashing out, even though Alyssa hadn’t done anything specific to annoy her yet. Alyssa, of course, had never been the type to back down from a challenge, so she mirrored Hope’s confrontational stance and sent back a glare of her own.

Josie and Kaleb glanced at each other, noticing that Hope was acting a bit more hostile than usual right off the bat. Josie frowned and Kaleb just shrugged back at her. He leaned back against the doorway, apparently trying to avoid getting involved in whatever was about to go down.

Josie realized that she should probably play mediator before things went downhill, since no one else was going to do it. She rose to her feet and moved to stand next to Hope, resting a hand on the small of her back to calm her down. At first, it seemed to have the opposite effect - Hope tensed and took a sharp breath. But then Hope relaxed into the touch, deflating with an exhale. 

Josie gave Hope a small, tentative smile before turning to address Alyssa and Kaleb. “Are you guys here for the party, too?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral to diffuse the tension.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “We’re here to make out,” she said bluntly. Kaleb shifted on his feet uncomfortably behind her, but Alyssa didn’t even spare him a glance. She scanned the room instead, as though she were making sure that she hadn’t overlooked someone in the shadows. “How exactly is this a party? There’s only two of you.”

Hope shifted on her feet with a displeased frown, her stance becoming more defensive than confrontational. Josie noticed Hope’s discomfort with a frown of her own.

Josie dropped her hand from the small of Hope’s back, taking a step forward as if to position herself between Hope and Alyssa. The move caused Alyssa to raise an eyebrow. Josie shrugged. “People just haven’t shown up yet, I guess,” she replied, looking rather unsure of herself. “You’ll have to ask Lizzie when she gets back. She invited everyone.” 

“Is that so?” Alyssa drawled, not sounding like she was buying any of this at all. Hope was looking even more tense than before in response to the scrutiny. Alyssa homed in on it the way sharks could sense blood in the water, staring directly at Hope when she spoke again. “And why exactly was I not invited?”

Hope scowled. She felt both vulnerable and backed into a corner. It didn’t react very well with her temper. “Probably because we don’t like you,” Hope snapped, her voice dripping with venom. Barely restrained rage was coming off of her in waves. It only intensified when Alyssa cocked her head to the side with a smirk instead of backing off.

Josie gaped slightly, taken aback by the intensity of Hope’s tone. She turned to stare at Hope curiously. She knew that Hope and Alyssa didn’t get along, but usually Hope’s anger was a justified response to something Alyssa did to provoke her. Hope's reaction was unusual, since most of what Alyssa had said so far was relatively neutral. 

Kaleb frowned, finally chiming in. “Well, I wasn’t invited, either,” he revealed, taking a few steps into the room to stand beside Alyssa. “Do y’all not like me now?”

Josie looked away from Hope, her face falling into a confused pout in the light of this new information. She cleared her throat awkwardly, deciding to once again try to keep the peace. “Um, well, I’m sure that wasn’t on purpose,” she suggested, her gaze wavering for a moment with uncertainty. “Lizzie’s been acting a bit weird lately, maybe she just forgot to invite you for some reason.”

Alyssa scoffed. “You say that like Lizzie has ever acted normal,” she snarked.

Hope’s expression hardened. Josie frowned, but she opted to just ignore the comment. “Well, now that you guys are here, you’re welcome to join us. We have…,” Josie trailed off. She paused and turned to look back at the couch. “Well, we have chocolate. That’s pretty much it.”

Alyssa released a mocking laugh with a roll of her eyes. “No wonder no one showed up, this is beyond lame,” she drawled. Alyssa turned to speak to Kaleb. “Kaleb, go get my tequila from under Hope’s bed and invite the vamps. If we’re partying, we’re doing it right.”

Kaleb briefly glanced around, seemingly unsure of whether or not it was wise to leave the three girls alone. After seeing the impatient glare Alyssa was aiming at him, though, he disappeared in a blur before anyone could blink.

Hope’s own glare didn’t falter. It had only intensified in response to Alyssa’s last comment. “Under _my_ bed?” she asked, her question charged with a challenge. Hope’s arms fell to her sides, the muscles in her shoulders tightening like she was ready to lunge.

Alyssa shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I’m not about to go down for it if there’s a drug bust,” she explained, holding up her hand to stare at her nails with disinterest. She subtly glanced up to gauge Hope’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. Josie frowned, realizing that Alyssa was deliberately trying to provoke Hope. 

It seemed to work like a charm. A low rumble erupted from Hope’s chest, her upper lip curling back into a snarl. The room stilled, the air crackling with magical tension like a live wire.

Even Alyssa froze, her disaffected mask slipping off for a moment as she looked at Hope warily. 

Hope took a deliberate step toward Alyssa, much like a predator about to pounce. “Who the hell had the bad judgment to let you out of the dungeon?” she hissed furiously, her eyes shimmering gold.

Before Hope could take another step, Josie reached out and wrapped a hand tightly around her wrist. “Hope,” Josie called out, firmly tugging Hope back a step. 

Hope had looked like she was prepared to tear Alyssa to shreds moments before, so Josie was surprised that she allowed herself to be halted so easily. 

Hope stared back at Josie, who seemed to be very concerned. In an instant, Hope’s fury was reined in. She suddenly looked disoriented and confused, like she didn’t understand what had just happened. Josie gently ran a thumb over Hope’s palm in an attempt to comfort her. 

Alyssa ruined the moment when she spoke, forcing them to look away from each other. “You really should invest in a leash if you can’t control your guard dog, Saltzman,” she spat with a harsh scowl.

This caused Josie herself to tense, her worried pout collapsing into a straight line. Her eyes narrowed, becoming cold and emotionless as they darted toward Alyssa. “Don’t call her that,” she ordered succinctly, taking a step toward Alyssa herself as she pulled Hope behind her by the wrist.

Alyssa frowned, taken aback by the abrupt change in Josie’s attitude. It was an uncomfortable reminder of how Josie had acted when she was full of black magic. 

Alyssa suddenly realized that she was alone in a room with two very powerful beings, and both of them seemed to not be very fond of her at the moment.

Alyssa quickly recovered and steeled herself, trying to deflect from her moment of weakness. “Whatever,” she hissed, her scowl returning at full intensity. “You freaks are both so aggressive.”

Josie’s warning glare didn’t recede, but she seemed completely unaffected by Alyssa’s insult. She just cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “We’ll be outside,” she said simply, her voice flat and her expression blank. 

Without another word, Josie dragged Hope out the door by the wrist.

Hope frowned as Josie pulled her away from the Old Mill and into the woods, stumbling to keep up. She turned her head to watch as some vamps showed up in a blur of color. Somehow, people were already beginning to aggregate near the mill’s entrance, talking and sipping from red solo cups.

Hope gulped as Josie continued to drag her passed more trees. She wondered if Josie would stop before the Old Mill fell entirely out of sight. She could still see more vamps trickling in behind them, but their laughter was beginning to sound farther away. 

“Vamp speed must be pretty handy, huh?” Hope said awkwardly to the back of Josie’s head, desperate to break the mounting tension.

Josie came to a halt so suddenly that Hope almost walked right into her. She spun around to stare at Hope directly, dropping Hope's wrist and folding her arms over her chest. She didn’t waste any time. “What was that?”

Hope stumbled to a stop, already gulping and averting eye contact in response to Josie’s tone. “What do you mean?” she asked.

Josie gave Hope a pointed look. “Don’t play dumb with me, Hope Mikaelson,” she said with an impatient frown. Hope flinched at the use of her full name, anxiously running a hand through her hair and staring intently at a nearby tree. She could still feel Josie’s eyes on her. “She barely said a word to you, and you almost ripped her head off. What happened?”

Hope bit her lip, shifting on her feet and shoving her hands in her pockets. “I don’t know,” she mumbled reluctantly, staring down at her shoes with a guilty pout. “I lost control.”

There was a pause as Josie continued to stare at Hope, who seemed to be very ashamed of herself. Then, Josie sighed and shook her head slightly. “Hope, I don’t want you fighting with Alyssa,” she said.

Hope didn’t look up from her feet. Josie frowned. She reached out to grab Hope by the shoulders, squeezing gently when she felt how tense they were. Hope froze, finally looking up at Josie.

Josie’s eyes were gentle, and her voice was much softer when she spoke again. “We both know that she has no limits,” she murmured. “I don’t want you getting involved in that.” 

Hope’s lips parted dumbly, her breath hitching. She found it difficult to process what Josie was saying, since she was standing so close.

Josie squeezed Hope’s shoulders again before she trailed her hands down Hope’s arms and interlocked their fingers. “Look, I know that she’s your roommate and it isn’t that easy,” Josie started. “But you can’t let her provoke you like that. You need to keep your temper in check. Do you understand?”

Hope stared down at their hands. “I…,” she started, trailing off. “Yeah, I understand. I’m sorry.”

Josie’s eyes softened. “It’s fine. I just… I don’t want you getting hurt,” she muttered, squeezing Hope’s hands before releasing them. “Besides, I thought you two were back to being civil?” Josie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hope frowned, finally making eye contact again. “I mean, we had a little heart-to-heart when I convinced her not to kill you guys,” she replied. “But that doesn’t change the fact that she banished you to a prison world.”

“Well, yeah. But then I murdered her,” Josie pointed out casually. “So, we’re even.”

Hope huffed, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “Well, things aren’t _even_ to me,” she retorted with a resentful scowl. “She had no excuse to try to murder you, she wasn’t possessed. She’s just a bitch.”

Josie raised an eyebrow, giving Hope a knowing look before she glanced away. She shook her head and grinned. 

Hope pouted, her brow furrowing. “Why are you smiling like that?” she whined, sounding very much unlike herself. "It's not funny, Jo."

Josie chuckled, because Hope looked and sounded a lot like a petulant child. Hope’s pout only intensified. Josie rolled her eyes fondly, grinning at her. “I know it’s not funny, I’m sorry,” Josie said, her eyes still twinkling like she found it funny. “I guess I just didn’t think you were the type to hold grudges about attempted murder. In fact, I'm pretty sure you've forgiven people for it multiple times.”

Hope looked down at her shoes and shrugged, shoving her hands in her pockets. “It’s different,” she mumbled.

Josie nodded slowly, pursing her lips. “And how exactly is it different?” she asked, sounding a lot like she already knew the answer.

“Because she tried to murder _you_ , Josie,” Hope automatically answered. Her eyes widened when the words reverberated to her own ears. “And Lizzie, and your Dad,” she added on quickly, fighting a furious blush.

Josie laughed again, a bit more freely. “You’re just biased,” she teased with a playful wink.

Hope recoiled, offended. “So what if I am?” she replied defensively, once again crossing her arms over her chest. She frantically tried to think of a way to change the subject. “And, anyway, it’s not just that. She knows exactly what to say to irritate me.”

“You seemed pretty irritated in there before she said much of anything,” Josie accused, her voice still light and teasing.

“Well, yeah. Her presence is irritating,” Hope complained with an annoyed frown.

Josie smiled, but then her playful expression settled into something more serious. “Well, the next time she irritates you, I need you to walk away,” she said, her tone leaving little room for argument. “Can you do that for me?”

Hope gulped, rubbing the back of her neck and shifting on her feet. She stared at Josie for a moment before she replied. “Okay, fine,” she relented, glancing down. “I’ll walk away.”

Josie studied Hope’s expression for a moment, as if she was confirming that Hope was telling the truth. When she was satisfied, a grin began to slowly spread over her face. 

Hope tensed, staring back up at her with a confused pout. “What?” she asked nervously.

“Oh, nothing,” Josie replied, failing to keep the mirth out of her voice. “I just don’t know why my Dad is always going on about you being bad at following orders. You seem pretty good at it to me.”

Hope stared at Josie blankly for a moment, her jaw going slack from the shock. Josie seemed to find this reaction hilarious. Her eyes lit up with joy, and she began to giggle uncontrollably. 

Josie’s laughter made it very difficult for Hope to be mad, but it did nothing to stop her from being embarrassed. She blushed, her gaze faltering as her eyes darted away to look anywhere else. This made Josie laugh even harder. The sound made Hope’s chest flood with warmth. “Oh, _shut up_ ,” Hope whined, unable to stop herself from smiling.

After her laughter died down, Josie decided to have mercy and change the subject. Hope was still blushing heavily and biting her lip, her gaze now fixated on her shoes. Josie gestured over her shoulder, forcing Hope to look up at her. “Can I get you a drink?” she asked, her voice a little bit winded from laughing so hard.

Hope glanced over at the Old Mill. More people had shown up, and they had somehow managed to set up a drink table by the door over the course of the conversation. 

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Hope replied, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. Hope recalled the conversation she had with Lizzie earlier about intoxication being a bad idea. “Just water, though, if they have it,” she blurted out.

Josie beamed at her and Hope felt her stomach flip. Josie suddenly took a step forward and leaned in to plant a lingering kiss on Hope’s cheek, gently caressing her jaw. It was over before Hope had the time to panic. “Okay, I'll be right back,” Josie said with a shy grin, spinning on her heel and heading back toward the Old Mill with a bounce in her step.

Hope stared after Josie as she walked away, her jaw dropped. After a moment, she let out a short, surprised laugh. She shifted on her feet to contain her excitement, feeling a wide, goofy grin spread over her face.

“Well, I was hoping for more, but I’m glad to see that we’ve made some progress,” a voice practically yelled into Hope’s ear. 

Hope jumped, releasing a surprised squeak. “Jesus!” she yelped as she spun around, placing her hand over her chest like she was having a heart attack. Hope scowled as she saw that Lizzie was standing directly behind her. “You need to stop manifesting out of thin air like that,” she said, breathless. Lizzie had her arms crossed over her chest, and Hope’s eyes darted down when she noticed something dangling around her neck. “Are those binoculars?”

Lizzie scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “Well, you wouldn’t let me spy the magic way. I had to improvise,” she explained. 

Hope’s face fell. “You’re too involved in this,” she said matter-of-factly, not sounding like she had any hope that this fact would change.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Lizzie deflected with a wave of her hand. “Well done, Hope. A kiss on the cheek is impressive progress, considering Alyssa Chang just crashed your date with thirty plus-ones.”

Hope huffed, shifting on her feet and crossing her arms over her chest. She said nothing.

Lizzie shrugged, reaching out to awkwardly pat Hope on the shoulder. “Who knows, if you keep it up at this rate, you might just get to kiss her on the lips by next year,” she snarked.

Hope frowned, shifting on her feet again and looking away. “I don’t know, Lizzie,” she replied, insecurity shining through in her voice. “What if she only meant it in a friendly way?”

Lizzie immediately snorted and burst out into laughter. Realization seemed to dawn on her a few moments later when Hope just stared at her instead of laughing, too. Lizzie’s amusement slowly tapered off until her lips drooped into a frown. “Oh, shit. You were serious.”

Hope scowled. “I just don’t think that we should automatically assume it was romantic.” 

Lizzie rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, come _on_ , Hope. You might be oblivious, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to pretend to be,” she said, as though she were explaining something to a child.

Hope scoffed at Lizzie’s audacity. “Speaking of being oblivious, why the _hell_ did you keep me in the dark about that note?” she asked with a glare, suddenly reminded of all of the stress Lizzie had put her through.

Lizzie shrugged. “She thought it was cute, did she not?” she answered with a knowing look. Hope frowned, glancing away and remaining silent. “Exactly,” Lizzie continued. “Trust me, Hope. Everything I do is for your own good.”

Hope scoffed, glaring angrily at a shrub. 

Lizzie continued speaking before Hope could lash out. “Did you guys eat any of the chocolate?” she asked, her voice sounding unnaturally innocent.

Hope redirected her glare back toward Lizzie, where it belonged. “ _Why_ , Lizzie?” she hissed. “Was it drugged?”

“No,” Lizzie answered simply. “I didn’t have to drug it. Everyone knows that chocolate is a natural aphrodisiac.”

Hope scowled even more intensely than before. “I really want to punch you right now,” she admitted in a growl.

Lizzie nodded like she wasn’t surprised. “I guess that’s my cue to get myself a drink, then,” she responded, sounding way less threatened than Hope wanted her to be. “But in case I didn’t make myself clear,” Lizzie continued, suddenly so serious that Hope flinched, feeling like she might get whiplash. “We can follow your snail’s pace as long as you’re moving forward. I’m proud of you, or whatever.”

Hope’s eyebrows stitched together in confusion, but Lizzie was already walking away from her. Hope stared after her, watching her walk right by without acknowledging a guy who was apparently trying to hit on her. 

Hope relaxed and smiled a little to herself. Lizzie was confusing, invasive and chaotic as all hell, but she was nice in her own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, hope you like this one! Thanks for all of the comments! :)


	15. Searching

Shortly after Lizzie waltzed away, Hope realized that Josie should probably be back already. After all, Josie had only gone to get her a drink. Hope frowned, craning her neck to scan the crowd outside the Old Mill. She couldn’t see Josie anywhere.

After a futile moment of searching from a distance, Hope decided that she would try a more hands-on approach. She already had a bad feeling, but she was trying to ignore it. There was no reason to freak out, she told herself. Josie was probably fine.

Hope walked toward the drink table to get a closer vantage point. MG happened to be standing there, carefully scooping some punch into a cup. He turned to smile at Hope when he heard her approach. 

“Hey, MG,” Hope greeted with a tight-lipped smile, only briefly glancing at him before she began to scan their surroundings. “Have you seen Josie?”

MG seemed to sense her anxiety, his smile dimming a bit. “Josie? Yeah, I saw her a couple minutes ago,” he answered, leaning back against the table. It clearly wasn’t the most well-built table and it nearly collapsed from his weight. He bashfully stood up straight again. “She stopped to say hi, but then she went over to talk to Alyssa Chang for some reason.”

At that, Hope’s gaze swerved to fix on MG with such intensity that he flinched. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. MG frowned and shifted on his feet, wondering if he’d said something wrong. “Alyssa?” she echoed. “Why the hell was she talking to Alyssa?”

MG shrugged, averting eye contact and awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know, she didn’t say anything about it,” he replied. “It did look a bit tense, though. Josie followed her into the mill. I haven’t seen either of them since.”

Hope frowned. “Well, that’s really weird,” she muttered to herself. Her eyes darted around the area again, lingering on the entrance to the Old Mill. She appeared to be anxiously vibrating. “I’m gonna go find her.” 

Hope turned toward the Old Mill and looked like she was about to sprint away. 

“Wait, Hope!” MG called out, taking a step away from the table.

Hope came to a halt. Her eyes regained their focus when she looked at MG again. She seemed to suddenly realize that she had been talking to another human being for the past few minutes. “Uh, yeah?”

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” MG admitted awkwardly. 

Hope frowned, obviously confused at the statement and impatient to go find Josie. Her eyes darted toward the Old Mill again before she reluctantly looked back at MG. She seemed to resign herself to the conversation, deflating slightly with a sigh. “About what?” 

MG cleared his throat, like the announcement he was about to make was of great importance. “I wanted to let you know that it’s okay with me if you like girls,” he said simply, with a proud, oblivious smile.

Hope’s eyes almost bulged out of her head. Her jaw dropped open and she stared at MG in disbelief for a moment. Then, she snapped her jaw shut and gulped, reining herself in. “Excuse me?” she finally replied, her voice sounding tense and restrained.

MG looked far more uncertain of himself when he spoke again. “Well, I just want you to know that I don’t have a problem with it,” he elaborated with a casual shrug. He averted eye contact when Hope’s stare became even more intense. “I’m totally all for gay rights.”

Hope stood very still for a moment, her expression hard and unreadable. “MG,” she started quietly. “I know that you’re trying to be supportive and everything, but I don’t want to have this conversation with you right now.”

“Okay,” MG replied, with an easygoing grin that irritated Hope to her core. “Well, I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready to talk about it.”

Hope’s brow furrowed, and she released an exasperated sigh. “It’s not that I’m not _ready_ , I just don’t want to,” she retorted. She glanced away from MG to avoid glaring at him, aware that he wasn’t intentionally trying to annoy her. A passing witch yelped and practically ran away, thinking that Hope’s irritation was being directed toward him.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” MG insisted, still smiling obliviously in a way that made Hope want to crawl under a rock. “I know that Lizzie is giving you a hard time, but – ”

“I’m not ashamed,” Hope snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She frowned and clenched her jaw when she processed the rest of what MG had said. “What has Lizzie told you?” she demanded.

MG’s eyes widened. “What? Nothing,” he sputtered, taking an evasive sip of his punch and staring intently at the ceiling like he had found something interesting there.

This time, Hope allowed herself to glare at him. “That’s clearly a lie,” she observed matter-of-factly, propping her hands on her hips. MG gulped, staring down at his feet and laughing nervously. “ _MG_ ,” Hope growled, everything about her screaming _danger_.

MG gulped. “She just said that you’re in love with Josie,” he blurted out quickly, his words frantic and slightly jumbled together. “And that it makes you act like an idiot.”

Hope stared at MG blankly, the venom behind her glare gradually receding into nothingness. 

Her silence seemed to terrify MG. “I mean, _I_ don’t think you’re an idiot,” he insisted desperately, flailing his hands and nearly spilling his punch all over himself. “I think you’re really smart.”

Hope just continued to stare, her expression completely unreadable.

“Please don’t be mad at Lizzie,” MG practically begged, not knowing how to react to Hope’s silence. He bounced on his feet with nervous energy. “She’s just really bad with secrets.”

Hope cleared her throat, finally breaking the silence. “It’s not exactly a secret,” Hope mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest defensively and glancing away with a blush.

MG looked relieved that Hope had said something. “Well, I swear, she wasn’t trying to talk shit about you behind your back. She just tells me everything,” he rambled. “And, I mean, she also said that the way you get all flustered around Josie is kind of cute. And she said that she knows you’ll take good care of her, so she’s decided to help – ”

“Okay, MG, _enough_ ,” Hope interrupted frantically, the embarrassment becoming too much for her. She frowned and shook her head, more mortified than upset. “Please stop talking,” she practically begged, still refusing to make eye contact. 

MG stared back at her, frozen with his mouth agape. He seemed to not be able to wrap his head around the fact that Hope was acting so unlike herself. 

MG looked like he was trying to think of something to say that would erase the conversation from Hope’s memory. Hope walked away quickly without another word, knowing that anything he said would only make things worse.

Hope strolled into the Old Mill, now back on her mission to find Josie. 

She was able to find Alyssa Chang pretty easily. She was lurking in the corner of the Old Mill, glowering at a group of freshmen who all looked frozen in place.

Hope walked up to Alyssa, deliberately keeping her expression blank. “Alyssa,” she called out as she approached.

When Alyssa’s attention switched to Hope, the freshmen took the opportunity to scuttle away like a spooked school of fish. Alyssa frowned, irritated that her entertainment had been taken away from her. “Oh, I’m sorry, Hope. Did I accidentally give off the impression that I wanted to socialize with you?”

Hope rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m not thrilled to be here either,” she retorted, her words not really having much bite. “Look, do you know where Josie is?”

Alyssa scowled. She was apparently even more irritated to find out that Hope had approached her for this reason. “How would I know?” she snapped. “It’s not like we’re friends.”

Hope narrowed her eyes, giving Alyssa a warning glare. “Well, I can’t find her, and MG told me that he saw her talking to you.”

“We exchanged a few words,” Alyssa admitted with a bored shrug.

“Words?” Hope echoed, unimpressed. “About what?”

“Nothing,” Alyssa claimed. She seemed to have lost interest in the conversation and wouldn’t even glance in Hope’s direction. “It was boring and insignificant.”

Hope looked skeptical, but she tried to stay on task. “Well, did you see where she went?” she prompted, holding onto her last drop of patience through sheer force of will.

Alyssa gave Hope a clearly fake smile. “Nope. I’m genuinely sorry, but I can’t help you,” she said sarcastically.

Hope scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She glanced around the room, realizing that Alyssa would be of no help to her. “She just said that she was going to get me a drink and didn’t come back,” she muttered to herself, ignoring Alyssa’s presence. “That’s not like her.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well,” she started, sounding an awful lot like she didn’t care. “Maybe someone caught her eye and she forgot all about you and went to go bone.”

On pure instinct alone, Hope growled. Her eyes flashed gold when she spun around to glare at Alyssa. 

Alyssa stilled for a moment, scanning Hope up and down. Then she raised an amused eyebrow. “Oh, _interesting_ ,” she drawled, her eyes narrowing and becoming predatory. “Is someone a little bit jealous?”

Hope tensed, unable to will away the gold from her vision. _Walk away, walk away, walk away_ , she repeated to herself in her head.

Alyssa looked like she was very excited to mess with Hope’s head, which Hope feared wouldn’t end well for either of them. 

Luckily for Hope, Lizzie popped up out of the blue, her timing as impeccable as ever. “Bounce, she-devil,” Lizzie said to Alyssa with a hostile scowl. 

Alyssa scowled back at her, clearly upset that her entertainment had once again been interrupted. “Way to insert yourself into a conversation you’re not welcome in,” she spat.

Lizzie rolled her eyes dramatically. “Way to insert yourself into a party I deliberately didn’t invite you to,” she retorted.

Alyssa scoffed. “This party would be nothing if I didn’t show up,” she claimed. “If you want me to leave, make me.”

“You don’t have to leave,” Lizzie said. “I just think you might have a better time if you try talking to someone who actually likes you,” she suggested with a shrug. Her eyes narrowed. “You know, if you can find anyone here who likes you.”

“You’re one to talk,” Alyssa hissed. “Considering people brought dates to your funeral.”

Lizzie gasped, affronted. 

There was a brief moment of silence before Hope chimed in. “You didn’t even get a funeral,” she told Alyssa matter-of-factly. 

Lizzie pursed her lips and nodded at Hope, impressed.

Alyssa scowled. “Whatever,” she growled. “I hope you both have a terrible night.”

Alyssa sauntered away without a backward glance.

Once Alyssa had stomped out the door, Lizzie turned to Hope. She gave her an appraising look. “Well done, Hope,” she said, apparently proud.

Hope ran a hand through her hair nervously and shifted on her feet. “I promised Josie that I wouldn’t fight with her,” she admitted, looking down guiltily.

“You had to defend my honor. Josie would understand,” Lizzie claimed. Hope frowned, not confident at all that Lizzie’s statement rang true. Lizzie didn’t notice her doubt, suddenly glancing around the room and frowning herself. “Speaking of Josie, where the hell is she?”

Hope pouted, her worry returning full force. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out,” she muttered under her breath.

Lizzie groaned. “This is a disaster,” she lamented dramatically, causing a few vamps to stare at them from the other side of the room. “There was nothing in my plan about other people showing up and Josie leaving.”

“Well, do you think she’s okay?” Hope asked frantically, bouncing on her feet from the anxiety. “What do we do? Should we do a locator spell?”

Lizzie recoiled, staring at Hope like she’d lost her mind. “Don’t you think you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself there?” she asked carefully, patting Hope on the back a couple times to attempt to calm her. “Maybe we should try less extreme methods first? Like looking around?”

Hope frowned, but she nodded to agree.

“If she isn’t here anymore, maybe she went back to the school for some reason,” Lizzie suggested with an uncertain shrug. “Let’s go check our room.”

“Okay,” Hope agreed, looking slightly relieved that Lizzie was now on the case as well.

Hope and Lizzie walked back to the school on a mission, the party behind them disappearing in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has now gotten passed 1000 kudos! Thanks for the support! :)


	16. Investigating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Disappearance (no clue if this is a trigger but just in case)  
> Also, slight violence

Josie was not, in fact, back at the school. Josie was nowhere to be found. 

Lizzie spent the rest of the night trying to calm Hope down about it. It didn’t help that Josie wasn’t answering her phone. Hope got more and more anxious as time went on, even though Lizzie kept insisting that Josie would probably turn up with an explanation at any given moment. 

At nearly 2 AM, Lizzie had to kick Hope out of her room with an apologetic frown and a promise that she’d text her if Josie came back. By that point, Lizzie’s eyelids had been drooping closed for a couple of hours. She realized that she wasn’t going to get any sleep with Hope pacing around the room and rambling incessantly about where Josie might be.

The next morning, Hope was still a nervous wreck. She had stared at the ‘Send’ button on her phone all night and finally decided to text Lizzie at 5 AM sharp to ask if Josie had turned up yet. 

Lizzie didn’t reply until eight. To Hope, every passing minute felt like an eternity. The uncertainty had been eating away at her all night. Lizzie’s text didn’t make her feel any better; it simply said that Josie still hadn’t shown up yet. 

Hope called Lizzie back within a minute of receiving the text. 

Lizzie picked up after the second ring. “Um, yes?” she drawled, clearly irritated. Hope could picture the scowl on her face.

“She still isn’t back?” Hope asked quickly, skipping the introduction altogether. The effects of her all-nighter were quite apparent; she was tense like a bowstring and her eyelid was twitching in sync with her pulse.

“Did you not read my text?” Lizzie snapped in reply. Lizzie was anxious, too. She was struggling not to discharge her anxiety via biting sarcasm, like she usually did. “Listen, Hope. I know that you’re worried, but you’ve already disrupted my beauty sleep. The least you could do is give me five minutes to brush my teeth before you start interrogating me.”

Hope was now pacing around her room in a frenzy. She seemed to not even hear Lizzie’s request, focused only on the fact that Josie was still missing. “Dammit, Lizzie, we need to find her!” Hope blurted out frantically.

The sudden intensity of Hope’s voice made Lizzie jump. She sighed, realizing that Hope was thoroughly freaked out. “Breathe,” Lizzie urged, her voice much softer than before. “We’ll find her. Let's meet in the library in an hour. I have to tell my Dad first.”

Hope released a shaky sigh, running a hand roughly through her hair. She nodded, but then she realized that Lizzie couldn’t see her. “Okay,” she muttered. She hung up the phone and pulled a map out of her desk drawer.

* * *

An hour later, Hope was already sitting in the library. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, her hair was ruffled, and the table was shaking from how aggressively she was bouncing her leg.

Lizzie strolled in right on time, looking Hope up and down critically before she sat down across from her. “You look like shit,” she observed.

Hope scowled. “Thanks,” she said sarcastically. Hope wasted no time before she spoke again. “I swear to God, Lizzie, if this whole thing is another one of your _stupid_ plans, I’ll have to actually kill you this time.”

Lizzie frowned, offended that Hope thought she’d do this. “Calm down, it’s not one of my plans,” she replied. “I promise.”

Hope looked at Lizzie skeptically for a moment before accepting the answer and deflating with a heavy sigh. “Okay, but that makes me feel less calm,” she whined.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, but she looked worried, too. 

Their conversation was interrupted when Alyssa Chang waltzed into the room. Alyssa chose to sit on the opposite end of the long table they were seated at, too close for comfort but too far away to be called out on it.

Lizzie openly glared at her. It took a moment for Alyssa to notice. Then, Alyssa glared back. “Do you have a problem, Saltzman?” she growled.

Lizzie was about to reply with some witty retort when Hope kicked her shin under the table. It forced Lizzie to remember that she had more important matters to attend to. She turned back to look at Hope, ignoring Alyssa entirely. Alyssa just rolled her eyes and looked down at her textbook. 

Lizzie hushed her voice, hoping that Alyssa wouldn’t listen in on their conversation. “We could try a locator spell,” she suggested.

Hope frowned, wringing her hands together in front of her. “I tried a locator spell this morning and it failed,” she admitted in a whisper. “I think someone must be cloaking her.”

At this, Lizzie looked alarmed. “What?” she hissed, forgetting to keep her voice down altogether. Lizzie scoffed, shaking her head. “Unbelievable. It’s just like Josie to get kidnapped the second you make a move.”

Hope bit her lip, Lizzie’s comment only prompting her to worry more. “Well, who do you think would want to kidnap her?” she asked, nervously squeezing the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white.

“I don’t know, Hope,” Lizzie replied, her voice sharp and irritable. “A new monster? Or maybe her satanic ex?” 

Hope scoffed, sending Lizzie a stern glare. “Penelope wouldn’t _kidnap_ her.”

Lizzie gave Hope a skeptical look. “That’s what _you_ think,” she said. Hope just rolled her eyes. Lizzie scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, but she dropped the subject. “Can’t you just sniff her out or something?” she asked impatiently. “I’ll give you a milkbone.”

Hope shook her head and pouted miserably, choosing to ignore the milkbone comment. “Her scent’s all over the school. I’d just end up running in circles.”

Lizzie pursed her lips, having expected a less disappointing answer. She stared at a nearby bookshelf for a moment, apparently thinking. “What does she smell like?” she finally asked, tilting her head to the side.

Hope shrugged. “Vanilla,” she answered, so automatically that it was obvious she had thought about it before.

Lizzie recoiled in disgust. “Ew, gross!” she exclaimed, her nose wrinkling. “Come on, Hope, did you have to choose a _flavor?”_

Hope’s cheeks lit up with a blush and she averted eye contact, shifting awkwardly in her seat. “I don’t _choose_ what she smells like, Lizzie,” she snapped resentfully.

Lizzie scoffed, looking like she didn't buy that excuse. She glanced off to the side again, deep in thought. “Well, what do _I_ smell like?” she asked curiously after a moment.

Hope scowled. “Fire and brimstone,” she replied with a sarcastic bite. She glared at Lizzie, the wood of the table almost snapping in her grip. “We don’t have time for this, Lizzie! We need a plan.”

Suddenly, Alyssa spun in her seat to glare at them. “Can you two shut the hell up?” she hissed, dropping her textbook flat on the table.

Both Hope and Lizzie looked momentarily shocked at the interruption, but Lizzie recovered first. “Mind your own business, Maleficent,” Lizzie snapped in reply.

Alyssa glared viciously. “I’d love to. Stop yelling in my ear,” she snarked with a scowl. “I don’t understand why you’re both so worried about Lizzie’s better half, anyway. She has actual magic powers. If you can’t find her, she probably doesn’t want to be found.”

Lizzie scoffed again. “Maybe that would be valid if she hadn’t tucked her powers away in a jewelry box like an idiot,” she muttered resentfully.

Alyssa glowered at Lizzie. “What the hell are you talking about?” she asked, apparently equal parts confused and irritated. “Witches can’t just _tuck away_ their powers.”

Lizzie shrugged. “Maybe boring witches like you can’t, but siphoners can,” she began haughtily. “That doesn't mean we should, though. Her powers won't be much use to her in her desk drawer." 

Hope glanced between Lizzie and Alyssa, her expression unreadable. Her gaze settled on Alyssa, her eyes becoming cold and guarded. “Lizzie, be quiet,” she commanded sharply. 

Lizzie gasped dramatically, apparently very offended. She turned to stare at Hope directly, her mouth agape as if she’d just been stabbed in the back.

Hope didn’t wait for her to recover, already standing up and speaking again. “We should go talk to Dr. Saltzman,” she suggested. She was already dragging Lizzie out of her seat and toward the door before Lizzie could agree.

Hope didn’t stop dragging Lizzie by the wrist once they made it out into the hallway. She was walking quickly, and they seemed to be headed in the direction of Alaric’s office.

Lizzie scowled at the back of Hope’s head. “Well, thanks for backing me up in there, _Hope_ ,” she drawled sarcastically. “I thought we were a team.”

“We are a team,” Hope reassured her without turning around. She tugged Lizzie around a corner, charging down the next hallway. “I just thought you were being way too liberal with that information. The less Alyssa knows, the better.”

When Hope turned a corner into the next hallway, Lizzie pulled her to a stop. 

Hope didn’t seem thrilled about it, but she turned around to look back at Lizzie with minimal resistance. She dropped Lizzie’s wrist, crossing her arms and staring at Lizzie expectantly.

Lizzie gave Hope a meaningful look. “Look, I know Alyssa’s a bitch, but let’s not start a witch hunt,” Lizzie said. “We have no reason to believe she’s involved.”

“She’s involved,” Hope claimed with such certainty that Lizzie stared back at her like she was nuts.

After a moment of perplexed silence, Lizzie cleared her throat. “And what exactly makes you say that?” she asked.

Hope shrugged. “Alyssa doesn’t show interest in anything unless it’s of use to her,” she explained. “So, forgive me if I’m a little bit suspicious when she starts digging for information about Josie’s powers.”

Lizzie frowned. “Okay, I feel like you might be making a few too many assumptions there,” she said carefully. “She probably thinks it’s useful to know who does and doesn’t have power around here in general, that doesn’t mean she’s behind this.”

Hope rolled her eyes. She grabbed Lizzie’s wrist and continued to drag her down the hall, not willing to entertain the argument. “She's involved,” Hope repeated. “I thought I was just on edge before, but something's off about her. I can feel it.”

Lizzie’s brow furrowed in confusion, but Hope didn’t glance back to see it. “Um, did I miss something?” Lizzie called out to the back of Hope’s head. “Since when does Hope Mikaelson follow her feelings over logic?”

“Since today,” Hope huffed under her breath.

“And what if you’re wrong?” Lizzie asked point-blank. “What if you’re just pinning your suspicion onto her because it makes you feel more in control than you'd feel without a lead?”

Hope side-eyed Lizzie with a frown, irritated at how plausible the suggestion seemed. “It’s not like I’m burning her at the stake. I’m just not allowing you to lecture her about Josie’s weaknesses,” she muttered under her breath, looking away again. 

They finally made it to Alaric’s office at this point, so Lizzie decided to let the argument go. Hope knocked on the door, but no one answered. 

After a moment, Hope attempted to twist the handle and found that it was locked. She released an annoyed huff. “Where the hell is he?”

Lizzie shrugged, unsurprised. “Hopefully doing something useful,” she snarked.

Hope scowled, highly doubting that that was the case. “Alright, change of plans. We're going to your room,” she stated, already dragging Lizzie back in the direction they came. 

Lizzie scoffed. “Um, it’s a little bit rude to just invite yourself over like that, don’t you think?” she spat with an irritated scowl, tired of being pulled around like a ragdoll.

“I want to try a different locator spell. We need something of hers,” Hope said gruffly, sounding a lot like she resented having to explain it to Lizzie out loud.

Lizzie remained silent, but she maintained the irritated scowl for the entire journey to her room.

When they arrived at the room, the door was ajar. They froze and looked at each other in alarm, hearing someone rustling inside. 

Lizzie was about to rush in with guns blazing, but Hope shoved her against the wall beside the door and covered her mouth before she could reveal their presence. 

Hope gave Lizzie a look, trying to urge her to stay quiet. When she thought the message was received, she dropped her hand from Lizzie’s mouth. 

“What if it’s Josie?” Lizzie whispered sharply as soon as she was able to speak.

Hope glared at her, not satisfied with the volume of her voice. “What if it’s not?” she whispered back.

They didn’t have to wait long to find out. The perpetrator waltzed right out of the door, apparently not even bothering to be stealthy. As soon as Hope saw who it was, she had her pinned against the wall by the throat.

“I _told_ you,” Hope barked over her shoulder toward Lizzie, not taking her eyes off of Alyssa. “I knew something was off.”

Lizzie raised her eyebrows, observing the struggle from a distance. “Welp, this does seem a tad bit incriminating,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Let go of me,” Alyssa hissed with a threatening glare, unsuccessfully trying to wriggle out of Hope’s grasp.

Hope glanced down and noticed that Alyssa had something clutched in her fist. Hope practically wrestled with her to tear the object out of her grip. Hope pushed Alyssa back against the wall and looked down to see that it was Josie’s ring. 

Hope’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and she glared at Alyssa like she was trying to see right through her. “What the hell do you think you're doing?” she demanded furiously. “Where's Josie?”

Realizing that she was pinned down and not going anywhere until Hope chose to release her, Alyssa stopped struggling. Her attitude quickly flipped into her typical infuriating apathy. She shrugged nonchalantly. “I have no idea,” she drawled with a smug, mocking smile.

Hope’s expression devolved into something dark and borderline homicidal, her eyes turning solid gold with a blink and staying that way. 

There was barely time for Alyssa's apathetic mask to falter before her entire body was flying through the air to the other side of the hallway. 

Hope was on her again with a forearm against her throat the second Alyssa's back slammed into the wall. “I’ll ask again,” she hissed through her teeth. “Where is Josie,” she repeated, the phrase sounding more like a threat than a question this time around.

Lizzie was completely dumbfounded by the turn of events, frozen in place for a moment with her jaw agape. Alyssa looked scared shitless for once. 

“ _Okay_ ,” Lizzie called out nervously, taking a step closer to the pair to try to get the situation under control. "Let's all calm down." 

Hope didn't show any sign that she had heard Lizzie at all, still glaring just as intensely. 

" _Hope,_ " Lizzie called out again, more urgency in her voice. "Alyssa is not a monster, she is a student."

When Hope once again didn't react, Lizzie peered at Alyssa over Hope’s shoulder, looking panicked. “Answer her!” she hissed out frantically. “I've never seen her like this, she might actually kill you!”

Alyssa gulped. “Hope, I swear, I don’t know where she is,” she rambled, sounding a lot like she was begging for her life.

“Why did you take the ring?” Hope asked sharply.

“I don’t know,” Alyssa claimed, her eyes pleading with Hope to believe her.

Hope growled audibly, obviously unsatisfied with the answer. Alyssa flinched. “Well, _where_ were you taking it?” Hope demanded.

“I don’t remember,” Alyssa practically whined.

“That is such _bullshit_ ,” Hope snarled, her muscles shaking with the intensity of her anger.

“She’s telling the truth,” Lizzie observed, almost sounding surprised about it herself.

Hope’s nostrils flared and she stood very still for a moment, staring Alyssa down. The tension in the air was palpable, and the moment seemed to draw out for much longer than it should've. 

Just when Lizzie was about to step in and attempt to siphon the anger out of her, Hope took a step back. She released Alyssa from her hold. “Leave,” she snapped.

Alyssa didn’t have to be told twice. She was already scurrying away down the hall with her tail between her legs before anyone could blink.

“Hope,” Lizzie hissed, watching Alyssa run away with wide eyes. Lizzie quickly spun around to glare at Hope. “First of all, what the hell is wrong with you?! Do we need to get you anger management classes?!"

Hope only glanced at Lizzie briefly before she went back to watching Alyssa leave, her face expressionless. Her eyes faded back to blue.

Lizzie scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Second of all," she continued, her voice slightly quieter now that Hope's emotions seemed to be in check. "There has to be some kind of middle ground between _murdering_ her and letting her roam free.”

Hope’s expression was stony and determined as she watched Alyssa disappear around the corner. “I have a plan,” she replied curtly.

Lizzie barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Oh. Enlighten me," she drawled sarcastically.

Hope looked back at her again, a frown pulling at her lips. "You’ll hate it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who is frustrated that the fluff has been interrupted, rest assured that it will soon return like a hurricane


	17. Following

“So, the Necromancer’s obviously behind this,” Hope said matter-of-factly, charging into her room while Lizzie reluctantly trailed in behind her.

Lizzie stared at the back of Hope’s head with a frown. She shut the door and leaned back against it. “Um, how exactly is that obvious?” she drawled, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

Hope shrugged, making a beeline for her closet without glancing back. “Alyssa tried to steal a magical object and can’t remember why she did it. Ring a bell?” she asked, already pulling out a duffel bag and throwing it onto her bed.

“To me it sounds more like bird boy,” Lizzie noted noncommittally. “Maybe she’s just been an undercover mud child this whole time, too. I wouldn’t be shocked.”

Hope gave Lizzie a stern look, trying to urge her to be serious. She went back into the closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. “I’m serious, Lizzie,” she called over her shoulder. “What else have we dealt with that causes people to lose free will and memory?”

Lizzie looked skeptical, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. Hope didn’t turn around to see her reaction – she was busy kneeling down to look under her bed. “I thought the Necromancer severed his tie to Alyssa,” Lizzie reminded Hope, her voice dismissive.

Hope pulled a crossbow out from under her bed and shoved it into the duffel bag. “Maybe he didn’t,” she retorted simply with a shrug.

Lizzie scowled, not fully buying Hope’s argument. “Well, if that’s what you truly believe, then why the hell did you just let Alyssa scurry away?” she snapped irritably.

“Because,” Hope began, zipping up the duffel bag and spinning around to look back at Lizzie. “She’s not going anywhere until we let her get a hold of this ring,” she explained, pulling Josie’s ring out of her pocket and holding it up for Lizzie to see.

Lizzie looked extremely displeased with what she was hearing. “What do you mean, until we _let her_ get a hold of it?” she echoed with a scowl. Lizzie suddenly seemed to have a realization, and she recoiled as if shocked. Her eyes dimmed with dread. “Hope, _please_ don’t tell me that you’re going to just follow zombie girl to the all-powerful Necromancer’s lair.”

Hope gave Lizzie a look, propping her hands on her hips. “No, Lizzie, _we_ are going to follow zombie girl to the all-powerful Necromancer’s lair. And then we’re going to get Josie back.”

Lizzie scoffed at Hope, in disbelief and frankly astounded by her stupidity. “Let me get this straight. You’re basing the entire plan on the assumption that the Necromancer is behind this, even though it could just as easily be a completely different monster,” Lizzie pointed out, pushing off the door and glaring. “So, either you’re right and we’re going to have to fight the Necromancer, whom we have tried and failed to defeat multiple times in the past – or, worse, we’re going to have to fight something completely unknown and we won’t be prepared at all.”

Hope was unphased by the summary; she seemed to barely register what Lizzie had said. “Whoever it is, the plan’s the same,” Hope growled with a vengeful scowl, grabbing her duffel bag and slinging it over her shoulder. “Alyssa’s going to lead us to them, and then I’ll rip their heart out.”

Lizzie just stared at Hope blankly for a moment, her eyes glazed over in shock. “That is so _stupid,”_ Lizzie observed, deadpan. “I am not consenting to storm Mordor with you, Mikaelson. You’re going to get us both killed.” 

Hope huffed. “You know what, I don’t want to do this either,” she hissed, looking unhinged with worry all of a sudden. “But he kidnapped someone I love. So, I don’t really have a choice. Unless you have a better plan?”

Lizzie’s jaw dropped. “You’re in love?!” she exclaimed, her eyes widening almost comically.

Hope's eyes widened even more than Lizzie’s, and she stared back at her like a deer in headlights. Her cheeks reddened while she nervously adjusted the duffel bag on her shoulder. “ _In_ …?” she started, having no clue where the preposition had come from. She trailed off and scowled when she thought better of asking. “Oh, shut up, Lizzie,” she grumbled under her breath, already looking away and stomping toward the door.

“What’s next, the U-Haul?” Lizzie snarked with a raised eyebrow, not moving from her spot. “You haven’t even kissed her yet.”

Hope halted in her path with her hand on the doorknob, turning to glare at Lizzie. She looked severely offended. “So what?” she hissed angrily. “I’ve known Josie for years.”

Lizzie gasped and laid her hand over her heart, scandalized. “So, you _are_ in love with her!” she yelped happily.

With the intensity of Hope’s glare, it was a miracle that Lizzie didn’t spontaneously combust on the spot. “For fuck’s sake, Lizzie, that is so far from the point,” she growled. “Are you going to help me or not?” 

Lizzie dropped the giddy act. “Fine, I’ll accompany you on your terribly planned mission,” she relented with a grimace. “Your feelings are severely clouding your judgement, but I won’t let you martyr yourself without me. I happen to love her, too.”

Hope smiled slightly to herself as she opened the door and moved to leave.

* * *

Hours later, Hope and Lizzie found themselves huddled outside of a cave. 

They’d put Josie’s ring back in her desk and then opted to follow Alyssa around all day, hiding in the shadows and pretending to be spies. 

When Lizzie got impatient, she proposed that they make a scene to try to make Alyssa believe that the ring would be left unguarded.

Lizzie was a comically bad actress, and Hope found it extremely difficult not to cringe. 

At lunch, Lizzie pranced in the direction of Alyssa’s table in a way that she probably thought looked graceful. Trailing behind her, Hope saw it for what it was – awkward and self-conscious, like she knew she was being watched.

Lizzie halted directly in front of Alyssa so abruptly that Hope nearly slammed into her from behind. Lizzie pulled her phone out of her pocket and brought it up to her ear, even though it wasn't ringing. Hope resisted the urge to facepalm.

“Hello, _Dad?”_ Lizzie practically yelled into the receiver, ensuring that Alyssa would notice. 

Hope desperately wanted to roll her eyes, but she controlled herself to avoid giving them away.

Lizzie gasped dramatically. “What, a new _monster?!”_ she exclaimed in a tone that Hope worried was very obviously staged. “And you need Hope and I to _leave the school_ to go fight it?! _Immediately?!”_

Hope subtly glanced at Alyssa, who was apparently paying close attention to Lizzie’s act. In fact, every student in the near vicinity was watching, because Lizzie was being incredibly over-the-top about it. Most of them looked hopelessly confused, but Alyssa’s expression was unreadable.

“Okay, bye,” Lizzie said quickly into the phone, her tone all of a sudden completely devoid of emotion even though it had been so urgent seconds before. Lizzie whipped around to look at Hope, who flinched violently in response. “Hope, MY DAD NEEDS US TO LEAVE THE SCHOOL IMMEDIATELY AND GO TO A DESTINATION TEN MILES AWAY FROM HERE FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS!” she yelled.

Hope flinched. "Uh…," she grunted, her lips twitching into a disgruntled frown in response to how obvious Lizzie was being about all of this. "Well, alright," she grumbled unhappily, her jaw clenching in annoyance. "Let's go, then."

Lizzie immediately dragged Hope out of the cafeteria by the wrist with great urgency.

“ _Invisique_ ,” Lizzie and Hope recited in unison as soon as they made it into the hallway.

“She will _never_ buy that,” an invisible Hope whispered harshly to an invisible Lizzie.

“Just wait,” Lizzie whispered back.

By some miracle, Alyssa took the bait and made a beeline for the twins’ bedroom the second that Hope and Lizzie were out of sight. Lizzie grinned smugly in what she assumed was Hope’s direction. Obviously, Hope didn’t see it.

They followed Alyssa from a distance. She made a stop at the twins’ bedroom before leaving the school and traversing through the wilderness. 

Alyssa froze and nearly caught them when a still-invisible Lizzie carelessly stepped on a stick. She seemed to shake it off and continue forward when Hope and Lizzie remained silent for a minute.

The cave was only a ten minute walk from the school, but Hope and Lizzie could've never found it by chance. The entrance was covered up by a bunch of jutting rocks and conveniently-placed shrubs. 

After Alyssa disappeared inside, Hope and Lizzie stepped behind a rock and dropped the invisibility spell for a moment to regroup.

Lizzie looked a little bit more stressed now that they had arrived. “Hope, what if you’re completely wrong and Alyssa is just doing freelance evil?” she asked in a whisper.

Hope was about to reply when the Necromancer’s distinct evil laughter echoed out of the cave. He began to rant, but his voice was far-off and indecipherable, presumably because of the way it was bouncing off of the cave walls.

“Oh, _great_ ,” Lizzie groaned miserably. “You were right.”

“I knew it was him,” Hope said proudly, looking very satisfied with herself.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered. “You got lucky. Don’t sound too excited about it, now we actually have to fight him. How the hell are we going to do this?”

Hope looked fidgety all of a sudden, averting eye contact. “Well,” she began hesitantly. “I do sort of have a plan, but you’ll hate it. Again.”

Lizzie’s eyes narrowed and she scowled, already anticipating being displeased.

Hope cleared her throat awkwardly. “Hopefully Jo’s in there and we can sneak in and free her,” she began. “But if the Necromancer's paying attention to her, I’m going to need you to cause a distraction.”

Lizzie’s eyes narrowed even further. “And what exactly do you mean by _cause a distraction_?” she asked, suspicious.

“I mean that you’ll have to become visible and make a scene while I sneak over to Josie and free her,” Hope explained quickly, once again averting eye contact guiltily.

Lizzie’s jaw dropped and she stared at Hope like she’d just realized that she was talking to an alien. “ _That_ is your plan?!” she hissed. “Why would I agree to do that?!”

Hope huffed impatiently. “Because if you don’t then Josie is going to get killed or magicked in some other horrific way right in front of us,” she snapped with a stern look. “Are you ready?”

“Hold on, Hope. Just give me a moment to digest the fact that your plan is to _sacrifice me_ ,” Lizzie spat angrily. “I can’t believe this! I thought planning was your thing! Why do you suck at it all of a sudden?!” 

“I’m not _sacrificing you_ ,” Hope insisted in a whisper, waving her arms to try to urge Lizzie to quiet down. “I’m just going to pull Josie to safety first, and then I’ll come back and get you out of there, too. You’ll be fine for a couple of minutes. We both know that he’s too dramatic to just instantly kill you.”

Lizzie scoffed. “Oh, that’s _very_ comforting,” she said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Look,” Hope started. “You will be fine. All you have to do is play on his narcissistic fantasies and encourage him to go on an evil rant. He’ll get totally wrapped up in himself and forget that Josie exists for long enough for me to save her.”

Lizzie scowled. “Why the hell didn’t we bring other people?!” she complained, flailing her arms wildly with frustration. She glared at Hope venomously. “I will never forgive you for this, this is the _worst_ plan you’ve ever had.”

Hope released an exasperated sigh. "Look, be pissed at me later. We need to get in there now," she practically begged. "There's no telling what he's planning."

Lizzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. Without wasting any more time, Lizzie gave Hope a sharp nod and grabbed her wrist.

The two turned invisible again, and Lizzie dragged Hope through the cave entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope's feelings severely cloud her judgement.
> 
> I know that it's a bit of a cliffhanger, so I'll get the next chapter out within the next couple days (hopefully tomorrow). The forecast for the next chapter is the beginning of the fluff hurricane.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	18. Rescuing

The cave was easy enough to enter, but it quickly morphed into a narrow, winding passage. Lizzie apparently didn’t want to risk being the leader, so she basically shoved Hope down the passage in front of her.

It was dark, but as Hope moved further, she began to see a dim light flickering on the walls up ahead. She tiptoed toward it, trying to stay quiet to avoid being detected.

The ceiling was low, but Hope was short enough that it didn’t bother her. Lizzie, however, had to hunch over awkwardly to avoid slamming her head. She kept trying to move faster so that they might get to a more comfortable area quicker. This had the unfortunate consequence of causing Lizzie to bump into an invisible Hope multiple times. 

The fourth time Lizzie stepped on her shoe, Hope halted in her tracks. This caused Lizzie to more firmly walk into her. “Can you cut it out?” Hope hissed angrily over her shoulder, trying to keep her voice down. “You’re going to get us caught!”

“That’s funny, Hope, because you’re the one talking right now,” Lizzie whispered back. Hope could practically hear the scowl in her voice. “These low ceilings are killing me,” she complained.

Hope scoffed. “What, do you want to go first or something?” she asked sarcastically.

Hope didn’t expect Lizzie to actually take her up on the offer, but Lizzie was anything but predictable. Hope immediately found herself being pushed into the wall as Lizzie tried to scoot passed her in the tunnel. 

Hope released an irritated grunt as her face was smooshed up against the wall. The tunnel was certainly not wide enough for two people. It was made even worse by the fact that Hope was trying to keep her duffel bag balanced on her shoulder.

Luckily, they didn’t seem to be detected as a result of this scuffle. Hope scowled to herself, but she grasped the back of Lizzie’s shirt to keep track of her and they both continued to charge ahead.

When they finally emerged at the end, they found that the light was coming from a small cavern. There were a few haphazardly dispersed torches lining the walls. Lizzie was grateful to find that the ceiling was much higher there.

Hope scowled once again when she stepped out of the tunnel to see that the Necromancer was flailing about like he was center stage. He was making grandiose hand gestures to accentuate whatever the hell he was rambling about. The audience of his monologue was primarily Josie, who was tied up in a chair a few feet in front of him. 

Alyssa was also in the room. She was leaning back against a wall and she looked extremely bored. She was ignoring whatever the Necromancer was saying entirely, opting to examine her nails instead.

Hope felt a flood of relief when she saw that Josie was alive and well. She then felt a surge of pride when she saw the expression on Josie’s face. Josie didn’t look scared whatsoever – she just looked fed up with everything, like she had been forced to tolerate the Necromancer’s theatrics for far too long. 

Josie looked like all she wanted to do was break free and vaporize him.

After thoroughly studying Josie, Hope glanced around at the rest of the cavern. She frowned at its layout – it was way smaller and more circular than she would’ve liked. The only thing in the room besides Josie’s chair was a kiddie pool full of black goo that looked suspiciously like Malivore. 

Hope worried that Lizzie might have a bit of difficulty keeping the Necromancer’s attention off of Josie while Hope tried to sneak in to save her.

Hope didn’t have much time to think about it before the plan was already in action. Lizzie suddenly stepped further into the room and became visible. 

Josie’s eyes widened as Lizzie seemed to manifest out of thin air, casually standing behind the Necromancer with her arms crossed. Alyssa glanced up from her nails, raising an eyebrow but not looking very concerned.

The Necromancer didn't even notice that Lizzie was there at first. He just continued to ramble about how his power would soon be unbounded.

“Um, hello?” Lizzie called out to the back of his head, with no small amount of sass.

The Necromancer spun around with a dramatic gasp. He recovered from the shock quickly, turning his nose up in the air with his typical air of self-importance. “Ah, if it isn’t the other Gemini twin,” he observed with a creepy grin.

“Yup, that’s me,” Lizzie replied, looking very unimpressed. She was obviously still not thrilled with her role as the distraction. 

“Lizzie, what are you doing here?” Josie hissed, glaring at Lizzie. “You shouldn’t have come. You’re going to get hurt!”

Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m here to save you, or whatever,” she answered, her tone bored and unconvincing.

The Necromancer scowled at Lizzie’s casual attitude. Lizzie smiled. Her attempts to distract him were working perfectly. 

Lizzie's self-satisfied smile only served to infuriate the Necromancer further. “Subdue her, witch!” he abruptly shouted at Alyssa in a rage.

Alyssa sighed dramatically, as if the order was a great inconvenience to her. She stood from her place up against the wall and took a few steps forward to stand beside the Necromancer. Then, she turned to look at Lizzie and flicked her wrist.

Lizzie allowed herself to be flung through the air and magically pinned to the wall without resistance. She released a small _umph_ from the collision, but she otherwise didn’t seem to be bothered. “Oh, no,” Lizzie snarked, deadpan. “Whatever shall I do.”

The Necromancer, Alyssa and Josie were all equally confused about Lizzie’s complete apathy toward the situation. Hope took the opportunity and hustled in Josie’s direction. She quickly ducked into a nearby alcove in the wall, as though she’d forgotten that she was invisible. 

“Well, now that I am no threat to you,” Lizzie began, still sounding painfully bored. “I’m sure you won’t mind explaining to me the reason you’ve kidnapped my sister?”

Hope dropped her duffel bag behind a rock and carefully unzipped it to pull out her crossbow.

Hope had apparently underestimated the Necromancer’s propensity for theatrics, because he certainly knew how to work a stage. At Lizzie’s request, he turned around and waltzed toward Josie, spinning to rest his hands on her shoulders once he stood behind her chair. Josie and Hope both tensed. 

“I’m completing my deal with your father,” the Necromancer stated matter-of-factly, looking excessively pleased with himself. 

Lizzie stared at him blankly. Hope rolled her eyes and nearly groaned to herself from the frustration, only barely refraining to avoid being overheard. 

After a moment, Lizzie scowled. “My Dad didn’t break the deal. You asked for Josie’s black magic and he gave it to you. I watched,” she snapped. Lizzie glanced at Alyssa, who once again looked bored. Lizzie scoffed. “If the deal didn’t go through, it’s probably because you didn’t sever your tie with the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Alyssa just rolled her eyes at the nickname. She sighed sharply and crossed her arms over her chest, as though she’d already heard the Necromancer’s impending explanation a hundred times over and resented the fact that she’d have to listen to it again. 

The Necromancer was grinning maniacally. He released Josie’s shoulders and finally stepped back around her. “Oh, I _did_ sever my tie with her,” he explained with a haughty shrug. “There was nothing in the deal about not being allowed to kill her again.”

Lizzie scowled. She rolled her eyes, mostly at the fact that her father had failed to add that clause to the deal.

“On the contrary, I fulfilled my end of the bargain and your father gave me the magic I asked for,” the Necromancer continued. “But I found myself unable to access that magic. It’s still locked away from me, because our deal is incomplete. The magic was not all that your father promised me.”

Hope began to tiptoe toward Josie, hoping that the Necromancer wouldn’t turn back around.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, fed up. “Are you going to say anything relevant any time soon, or are you just talking because you like the sound of your own voice?” she snarked.

The Necromancer scowled, glaring furiously, but he ignored Lizzie’s comment and continued on as though she’d said nothing. “At first, I thought that your father had cheated me. It took me a moment to realize that the reason our deal was still unfulfilled was because I had asked for more than her magic,” he explained. To Hope’s displeasure, the Necromancer spun around and waltzed back toward Josie again. Hope was forced to halt in her tracks, grateful for the fact that she was still invisible. The Necromancer patted Josie on the cheek in a way that immediately made Hope’s blood boil. “I also told your father that I wanted this wretched girl out of my life,” he growled.

“Have you ever tried therapy?” Lizzie drawled sarcastically from her spot on the wall behind him. “You could’ve alternatively asked for therapy.”

“SILENCE!” the Necromancer roared furiously, spinning around to glare. He gradually cooled down as the room fell silent. “As I was saying, the deal won't be complete until she is gone,” he concluded, turning back to glare at Josie. “That's the only way it can be guaranteed that she stays out of my life. I knew that your father would never hand her over to me, so I took matters into my own hands. Imagine my surprise when I found her powerless.”

Lizzie’s mouth twitched into a frown, not liking where he was going with this. 

The Necromancer once again stepped behind Josie. He pulled Josie’s ring out of his pocket and held it up to the light. “But now that I have this, I can destroy every part of her,” he drawled with a sickening grin. He pulled a knife out of his pocket as well, and then he casually tossed the ring through the air. Its trajectory was headed straight for the Malivore kiddie pool.

When the ring suddenly froze midair before it reached its destination he frowned, glancing at Lizzie and then at Alyssa. Alyssa had an equally perplexed expression on her face, but it slid right off when she suddenly passed the fuck out and collapsed on the floor.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the Necromancer boomed, looking around the cavern frantically and raising the knife over Josie’s head.

Whatever he had intended to do with the knife, things certainly didn’t go as planned for him. Suddenly, Hope dropped the invisibility spell and launched across the room in his direction. She morphed into a wolf midair, accompanied by a symphony of cracking bones and tearing clothes. She released a furious growl that began as human and devolved into something more animalistic.

It was over for the Necromancer pretty quickly. Wolf-edition Hope practically tore him apart limb from limb before anyone could blink. 

Josie was spared from witnessing the gore of it since the skirmish took place on the floor behind her. She only bore witness to Hope’s ferocious growls, the Necromancer’s screams and a plethora of other sickening sounds better left undescribed. 

Lizzie, who was still pinned up on the wall, wasn’t as lucky – from her position, she practically had a front row seat. She looked so disgusted and horrified that Josie couldn’t help but cringe with her. 

“Oh, _God_ ,” Lizzie whined, punctuated with a dramatic gag. “I think I’m gonna be sick.” Lizzie looked away, staring intently at the ceiling. She envied Alyssa, who was still unconscious.

It went on for only a minute or two before the chaos fell silent. Then, the Necromancer somehow began to yell a variety of insults once again.

When Lizzie glanced back down at the scene in front of her, she appeared to be thoroughly shocked. It did nothing to sate Josie’s morbid curiosity.

Josie didn't have to wait long to be brought up to speed on the situation. Wolf-edition Hope trotted around to stand in front of Josie, carrying The Necromancer’s disembodied head by the hair like a chew toy.

Wolf-Hope took a step closer, and Josie was rendered completely dumbfounded. Her mouth gaped open in shock. Wolf-Hope was apparently oblivious to this. 

The first thing that Josie thought was that Hope was beautiful in wolf-form. This thought only occupied her mind for a moment before she was distracted by the fact that the Necromancer’s head was apparently still animated. 

“Unhand me, you beast!” the Necromancer’s head yelled furiously.

Wolf-Hope took a few tentative steps closer to Josie before she came to a halt and dropped the Necromancer’s head ungracefully at Josie's feet. The Necromancer opened his mouth, like he was about to say something else, but wolf-Hope snarled at him and stalked around him like she might pounce, her eyes looking murderous. Shockingly, he was terrified into silence for once.

When wolf-Hope was satisfied with his compliance, she circled around the Necromancer’s head again and turned to look back at Josie. Then, she sat down on her hind legs, tilting her head to the side. She stared up at Josie with an expectant look in her eye, as if she had just presented her with a gift and was waiting for her approval. 

Josie stared back at wolf-Hope for a moment before she was able to recover from her shock enough to speak. “Uh…,” Josie began, her voice gruff from disuse. She cleared her throat. Her eyebrows stitched together with confusion. “Good girl?” she finally decided to say, sounding very uncertain of herself.

It was apparently the right thing to say. Wolf-Hope’s tail instantly began to wag so intensely that it was borderline violent. She opened her mouth and started panting, looking almost like she was smiling.

Josie eventually fully recovered from her shock and broke out into a grin. She couldn’t help it, despite the disturbing nature of the situation. Wolf-Hope was staring up at her with an excited twinkle in her eye, much like a puppy who was ecstatic about pleasing her master. It was adorable.

Josie then began to giggle uncontrollably at the absurdity of the situation. Wolf-Hope seemed even more pleased with this – her tail wagging picked up momentum. She stood up on all fours, taking a few steps forward. She gracefully rose to stand on her hind legs, propping her front paws up on the seat of the chair. Then, she dove forward and began to lick Josie’s face relentlessly.

Josie’s giggles evolved into full-blown laughter. She was gasping for breath, overwhelmed by the hilarity of the situation and the joy of unexpectedly being saved. “Hope, stop,” she eventually begged, trying to catch her breath. “I don’t know how to feel about this,” she admitted with a playful grin. 

Reluctantly, wolf-Hope stopped her licking attack. She didn’t exactly back off, though – she instead nuzzled gently into the crook of Josie’s neck, apparently unwilling to separate from her. Josie smiled, closing her eyes and letting herself be comforted by the softness of wolf-Hope’s fur. 

The stillness seemed to be enough to suddenly snap Lizzie out of her shocked trance. “ _Seriously?”_ she groaned from her position, still pinned up on the wall. “What the hell am I watching? What kind of bizarre fever dream is this?!”

Wolf-Hope reluctantly pulled back and pushed herself off of the chair, landing on all fours. Josie was still grinning, but Lizzie was scowling. Hope padded a few strides away from Josie and looked up to see a very displeased Lizzie.

Wolf-Hope huffed and let out a half-hearted growl in Lizzie’s direction when she saw the look on her face.

“Oh, _be mad_ ,” Lizzie snapped, her scowl deepening.

“Hope,” Josie called out. Wolf-Hope spun around and snapped to attention, her ears quirking upward. Josie smiled, still finding the wolf version of Hope very endearing. “Do you think you can shift back and bring me my ring?”

For a moment, Josie worried that Hope wouldn’t be able to understand what she was asking; but, after a beat, Hope trotted over to the alcove where she’d left her duffel bag before. 

Josie flinched when she heard some cracking sounds coming from behind her that she imagined must be indicative of Hope shifting back. It was short lived, but then it was replaced by the rustling of fabric. 

Hope emerged from the alcove with a heavy blush on her face, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. She looked a tad bit ashamed of herself. It didn’t help that she could feel Lizzie’s intense stare burning into her, following her every move. 

Hope quickly found the ring, which had at some point fallen to the ground. She bent down to pick it up. Then, she approached Josie’s chair and crouched down in front of her. 

Hope was still blushing heavily and couldn’t make eye contact. She gently took Josie’s hand into her own and slid the ring onto her finger.

Josie beamed down at her. 

“ _Lectos espiritox,_ ” Josie whispered under her breath.She inhaled sharply as her magic was returned to her. Then, she exhaled a sigh of relief. Josie glanced down to see that Hope was still holding her hand. Their hands glowed an orange-red, the telltale sign that Josie was siphoning. “ _Fractos,_ ” Josie recited, her voice more confident and firm. The chains that had been restraining her to the chair unraveled and fell to the floor.

Hope stood quickly when Josie made a move to get up out of the chair. Josie didn’t let her get too far away, already wrapping her up in a tight hug the second she was on her feet. 

Hope froze for a moment, but then she deflated with a sigh, allowing herself to hug Josie back. “You okay?” Hope whispered, a slight frown on her lips.

“Mhm,” Josie hummed, squeezing Hope tighter. "Thanks to you."

Hope's eyes fluttered shut, her frown twitching up into a relieved smiled. “I was so worried,” she murmured into Josie’s shoulder. The thought occurred to her that she never wanted to let go.

Unfortunately, the moment was soon ruined by Lizzie’s voice. “Um, _hello?!”_ she called down to them from her spot on the wall. “Does no one worry about _me_ anymore?!”

Josie and Hope pulled back from their hug, both of them turning to look at Lizzie. They both took in the image for a beat before turning to look back at each other. Hope raised an eyebrow. Hope and Josie both burst out laughing.

Lizzie glared at them with as much venom as she could muster. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered irritably under her breath "Neither of you will be laughing when I get down from here." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've noticed that some of y'all are mentioning this fic on Twitter, so I figured I'd make an account linked to this one. I'll tweet to let you know when I update. I might also end up doing polls or something, I have some ideas for future fics.  
> Feel free to follow me if that appeals to you ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ @Th3Nutcase
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter!


	19. Returning

“Thank God you’re back, Jo,” Lizzie called absentmindedly over her shoulder. “Hope was about to go feral.”

Hope scowled. “Shut up, Lizzie,” she growled under her breath.

The three of them were navigating their way back to the school through the woods. Lizzie was leading the pack, scrolling through her phone and narrowly avoiding collisions with trees.

Hope and Josie were having a bit more difficulty behind her. They were trying to work together to carry a still-unconscious Alyssa. Each of them had one of Alyssa’s arms draped around their shoulders. Alyssa’s feet were trailing on the forest floor between them, occasionally getting stuck on a tree root and making the task more challenging.

Josie seemed to be managing it well. Hope would probably be having an easier time if she wasn’t simultaneously attempting to carry her duffel bag.

Lizzie seemed to not notice Hope’s struggle, or perhaps she just didn’t care. “I’m serious,” she continued without looking back. “I thought she was going to murder us all.”

Hope scoffed, scowling at the back of Lizzie’s head. “You’re so dramatic,” she mumbled, aggressively tugging the duffel bag’s strap higher up on her shoulder.

“ _I’m_ dramatic?” Lizzie snarked. “You’re the one who nearly strangled Alyssa Chang.”

Josie nearly tripped over herself at this. Her eyes darted in Hope’s direction, but it was difficult to see her through Alyssa. “Wait, you did what?” she asked, confused.

Hope frowned irritably, looking down at her feet with a blush. “She started it,” she grumbled under her breath like a scolded child.

Lizzie laughed. “She really didn’t,” she retorted.

Now that Josie was looking toward Hope, she could see that Hope clearly wasn’t having a good time. The duffel bag was gradually slipping off of her shoulder. She was now trying to keep it in place by bending her neck at an awkward angle. 

Josie glanced at Lizzie, who was casually strolling ahead of them and not being helpful in any way whatsoever. Josie frowned. “Lizzie, can’t you carry Hope’s duffel bag and contribute a little?” she requested.

Lizzie finally looked back at them, observing the way that Hope’s duffel bag was now awkwardly drifting toward the crook of her elbow. Lizzie pouted. “I told you guys, my arm hurts because I was up on that wall for so long,” she whined, rolling her shoulder and wincing.

Josie sent Lizzie a stern glare. “Use your other arm,” she commanded, her tone vaguely threatening.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, but she doubled back and reluctantly grabbed Hope’s duffel bag, falling into step beside them. Hope sighed in relief. Lizzie side-eyed her resentfully. “Whatever. You’re both so protective of each other,” she mumbled.

Hope used her now-free elbow to jab Lizzie in the ribs.

“Ow!” Lizzie exclaimed. She scowled and rubbed at her side. “If I had known this mission would result in so much trauma, I don’t know if I would’ve come along.”

Hope grunted irritably, keeping her eyes trained ahead and choosing to say nothing.

They all fell into silence until the school came into view.

“We should really figure out what we’re going to tell Dad,” Lizzie noted as they approached the front entrance.

Hope frowned at this. It seemed to be the first time she was considering what they were going to say to Dr. Saltzman. She opened her mouth to reply, but her jaw snapped shut as soon as Lizzie opened the front door.

By some unfortunate twist of fate, Alaric happened to be about to walk outside at that exact moment. Hope and Josie halted in their tracks, having nearly bulldozed right into Lizzie.

Alaric took in the scene before him with wide, frantic eyes. “Josie!” he exclaimed when he caught sight of her, his voice filled with relief. He rushed forward with the intent to hug Josie, but his efforts were thwarted by the fact that Josie was still trying to keep half of Alyssa upright. His eyes widened as he noticed that Alyssa was limp and apparently unconscious. “What’s wrong with Alyssa?” he demanded, automatically flipping into headmaster-mode.

“Uhh…,” Hope trailed off with a frown, not knowing where to begin.

“Hope magically knocked her out,” Lizzie said bluntly.

This only seemed to make Alaric more concerned. “What?” he asked, his eyes darting over to Hope. “Why would you do that? Wake her up, Hope,” he ordered, looking disappointed in her already. Hope flinched, knowing that the disappointment would only get worse the more they explained.

Lizzie scoffed, sparing Hope from having to respond. “Yeah, you'll probably want to throw her in a containment cell first,” she suggested. “We really don’t need to set her loose on campus if the Necromancer can still puppet her around.”

“The Necromancer?” Alaric echoed, now directing his confused frown at Lizzie. “What are you talking about?”

Lizzie didn’t answer right away, probably because she was also trying to figure out how to explain the situation.

Alaric seemed to grow angry in response to the silence. “What’s going on? Where have you and Hope been for the past couple hours?” he demanded of Lizzie, crossing his arms over his chest.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she snarked. “You choose _now_ to start paying attention to where we are?”

This was not the correct thing to say. Alaric’s expression darkened. His gaze rapidly oscillated between all three of them. “All of you to my office,” he barked. “ _Now_.”

* * *

Alaric reluctantly agreed to let Hope and Josie transport Alyssa to a containment cell, under the condition that they would come directly to his office afterward and explain why she should be in there.

Hope and Josie had a bit of difficulty navigating the stairs while carrying Alyssa, but they eventually managed to get her situated in a cell. Josie released a relieved huff when they put Alyssa down, but Hope felt her stomach fill with dread, knowing that things would soon get worse.

“Your Dad’s gonna fucking _kill_ me,” Hope lamented as she slid the cell door shut behind them with a _click_.

Josie turned to look back at her and frowned. “He would never _kill_ you,” she claimed, but her gaze faltered for a moment like she wasn’t too certain about it. 

Hope turned away from the cell door and leaned back against it, closing her eyes. “Josie, I didn’t even tell him that we were leaving,” she admitted with a pout.

Josie couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the childlike look on Hope’s face. “Hope, why didn’t you tell him that you were leaving?” Josie asked, her tone playful and fond.

Hope opened her eyes but her pout only intensified. “I don’t know,” she answered miserably. “I just forgot, okay? I was really focused on the mission, I guess.” 

“You forgot,” Josie repeated slowly, staring back at Hope with a raised eyebrow. She paused for a moment, but she continued when Hope only stared back at her. “Okay, well, he definitely won’t like that explanation,” she said with a grimace. “But, I wouldn't let him _kill_ you,” she insisted, as though it should be obvious.

Hope shifted on her feet uncomfortably. “You promise?” she asked, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Josie chuckled softly. “Yeah, I promise,” she agreed with a nod. She gestured over her shoulder at the staircase. “Now, come on. Let’s get back up there before we give him another reason to be pissed off.”

Josie turned to walk up the stairs, but Hope reached out and gently grasped her wrist. “Wait!” she blurted out, sounding a little bit desperate. 

Josie halted in her tracks, looking back at Hope with concern. 

Hope cleared her throat and dropped Josie’s wrist when she noticed that she’d been holding onto it for a bit too long. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly, biting her lip.

Josie’s eyes softened. “Yes, Hope. I told you, I’m fine,” she replied with a reassuring smile.

Hope frowned, not looking entirely convinced. “He didn’t hurt you or anything, right?”

Josie stared back at Hope like she was the most precious thing on earth. She suddenly felt very grateful that Hope was willing to let her see this rare, soft side of herself, and she resolved to protect it at all costs. “No,” Josie murmured after a pause. “He didn’t hurt me. We'll talk about this later, I promise.”

Josie held out her hand in the space between them. Hope stared at it blankly for a beat, apparently unable to understand why it was being offered to her. Then, her eyes widened with realization and she blushed. She only allowed herself to panic briefly before she reached out herself.

Josie held her hand all the way up to Alaric’s office, and Hope felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Some students gave them curious looks as they passed. Hope did her best to keep her poker face in place even though she was freaking out inside. She felt a little bit pathetic for being so affected by such a small gesture. 

When Hope and Josie filed into Dr. Saltzman’s office, they found that Lizzie was already in there. She was leaning casually against his desk, apparently already explaining the night’s events.

“And then Hope transformed into a wolf mid-air and forced me to watch as she ruthlessly dismembered the Necromancer,” Lizzie explained in a bored tone. 

Lizzie turned to look at Hope and Josie, having just noticed that they’d entered the room. Her eyes narrowed in on their clasped hands and she looked up at Hope suspiciously. Hope cleared her throat and released Josie’s hand, defensively folding her arms over her chest. 

Lizzie scowled at Hope. “A scene which I’m sure I will need years of therapy to work through, by the way,” she continued, sending Hope a pointed glare.

Hope rolled her eyes, but she said nothing.

Lizzie continued after allowing her glare to extend for a moment longer. She turned back to look at Dr. Saltzman, who was staring at her with his mouth agape. “And then Hope trotted over to Josie carrying the Necromancer’s still-animated severed head in her mouth,” she drawled nonchalantly, sounding once again bored by her own story. “And then Hope dropped the Necromancer’s head at Josie’s feet and started wagging her tail like she was presenting Josie with a promise ring.”

Hope shifted on her feet awkwardly and blushed, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room. Josie’s cheeks reddened, as well, perhaps recalling the way Hope had looked like a thrilled puppy.

“And _then_ , when Josie got her powers back, she suddenly went all _sadistic_ ,” Lizzie continued, glaring at Josie this time. Josie flinched at the word ‘sadistic,’ shifting on her feet awkwardly and averting eye contact much like Hope had. “And she just casually tossed every part of the Necromancer’s body into Malivore besides his head, I guess just because she was curious to see if we’d forget him. Which we obviously haven’t.”

Alaric’s eyes looked like they might bulge out of his head from how shocked he was. Hope could see some latent anger under the surface just waiting to be sparked, though, and she gulped.

“And then they finally got me down from the wall and we walked back here,” Lizzie concluded. “The end.”

There was a long, awkward moment of silence as Alaric digested everything he had just learned. Then, it was like something snapped. His face became red with rage and a vein began to bulge out of his forehead. “I cannot _believe_ you both acted so irresponsibly!” he shouted, his gaze darting between Hope and Lizzie.

Lizzie appeared to be taken aback. She may have foolishly expected a ‘thank you.’ Hope had expected no such thing and just stared down at her feet, ashamed.

Lizzie recovered from her shock. “I mean, was it a terrible plan? Yes,” she admitted. “But was it _my_ fault? No. Hope made me do it,” she asserted shamelessly.

“ _Lizzie_ ,” Josie hissed. The glare she aimed at Lizzie may have been intense enough to melt steel. 

Lizzie just responded with an exasperated shrug, silently mouthing the word ‘ _What?’_ , like it wouldn’t have been reasonable to expect her to say anything else.

Hope scowled. “What happened to ‘ _I thought we were a team_ ’?” she snapped, lazily accentuating her question with air quotes.

Lizzie shrugged. “You used me as bait. Our camaraderie is temporarily suspended until further notice,” she replied matter-of-factly.

Somehow, Lizzie’s attempt to deflect Alaric’s rage worked like a charm. He ignored their exchange and glared at Hope. “Hope, how could you be so reckless?!” he yelled. “You didn’t even tell anyone where you were going! All three of you could’ve gotten killed!”

Hope flinched. The color drained from her face as she tried to think of something to say to defend herself.

Luckily, Josie took a deliberate step in front of Hope, as if to physically shield her from Alaric’s wrath. “Dad,” she began, her voice pleading. “No one got killed. Hope had it under control. And she defeated our worst enemy.”

Lizzie scowled. “ _We_ defeated our worst enemy,” she muttered resentfully under her breath.

A muffled voice suddenly sounded from Hope’s duffel bag, which Lizzie had placed by the door. It sounded a lot like the Necromancer yelling, “I will never be defeated!”

Alaric stared at Hope’s duffel bag, confusion and rage merging together on his face.

Josie tried to deflect his attention from the bag as quickly as possible. “And she,” she paused, briefly glancing at a disgruntled Lizzie. “ _They_ also saved my life. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“They got _lucky_ , Josie,” Alaric snapped angrily. “They didn’t even run the plan by me – probably because they knew I wouldn’t approve of it, because it was a _stupid_ plan,” he seethed, trying and failing to glare directly at Hope around Josie’s shoulder. “And if things went wrong, no one would’ve had any idea what happened to any of you.”

“And if they didn’t do what they did, I’d be dead,” Josie concluded for him, her tone blunt. “No one else was coming to save me.”

Alaric flinched. Hope frowned and looked at Josie with concern, disturbed by even the thought of her getting hurt. Lizzie, for her part, just seemed shocked that Josie was defending them so adamantly.

Alaric cleared his throat. He seemed to be taken off guard by the fact that Josie was arguing against him. It didn’t sate his anger, but he seemed to calm down enough to be able to contain it. “You two aren't getting away with this,” Alaric stated simply, giving Hope and Lizzie a stern look and crossing his arms over his chest. “We’ll discuss your punishment in the morning. Till then, both of you go to your rooms, and _stay there_.”

Lizzie groaned dramatically but Hope just accepted the order. She turned to leave the room. 

Josie tried to follow, but Alaric stopped her. “Wait, Josie,” he called out. 

Josie paused and turned back to look at him. Hope halted in her steps, turning back in case Josie was about to get yelled at, too. Lizzie stomped by the both of them and out the door in a huff. 

Alaric was tense, but he didn’t seem to be angry at Josie in particular. “You stay, we need to discuss what happened,” he instructed. 

Josie nodded, but she turned back to look at Hope with an apologetic frown. Hope hesitated to leave, reluctant to part ways with Josie now that she'd just gotten her back.

“ _Goodnight_ , Hope,” Alaric snapped at her when she made no move to leave.

Hope scowled at him, but then she spun around and made her way to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, hope you like this one.  
> The slow burn will actually kindle next chapter, thanks for your patience lol
> 
> Follow me on twitter @Th3Nutcase to be notified of chapter updates and such


	20. Talking

Hope was busy sulking about her punishment when she heard her phone vibrate on the bedside table. She frowned, glancing over at it without getting up. She was thinking of just ignoring it when it vibrated again.

The curiosity became too much for her. She sighed, twisting awkwardly and reaching out to grab it. She flopped back on her bed, holding her phone up and unlocking it to see who was texting her.

She had two text messages from Lizzie. She frowned, confused. They didn’t usually text. She opened up the thread.

 ** _Lizzie:_** _I know I said that our friendship was temporarily suspended but I would like to reinstate it._

 ** _Lizzie:_** _I feel that we are even now that I "threw you under the bus", as you'd say._

Hope couldn’t help but laugh, rolling her eyes. She shook her head at Lizzie's ridiculousness, considering for a moment before typing out a response.

 ** _Hope:_ **_Wow. L_ _ucky me._ 😒 

Hope smiled to herself, satisfied. She locked her phone and placed it face down on the bed beside her, staring up at the ceiling once again. 

All in all, the day wasn’t too bad, she thought to herself. Sure, she could’ve done without getting yelled at and more-or-less grounded, but that was a small price to pay for Josie’s safety. 

She’d pay any price for Josie’s safety, really.

Besides, she had the room all to herself now that Alyssa was down in the dungeons. That was a plus, especially since Hope wasn't allowed to go anywhere else.

Hope felt her phone vibrate again beside her. She picked it up and unlocked it, looking at Lizzie’s response.

 ** _Lizzie:_** _So, r u gonna explain why you and jo were holding hands, or...???_ 👀 

Hope felt her cheeks heat up instantly at the reminder. She grinned to herself, though, remembering the way Josie had smiled at her earlier. 

It wasn’t a bad day at all, really.

Hope was trying to figure out how to respond when she was interrupted by a knock on her door. She frowned, not knowing who to expect at this time of night. 

Hope hopped off of her bed and placed her phone back on the bedside table. She walked across the room and pulled the door open, praying that Dr. Saltzman wasn’t dropping by to yell at her again.

“Josie!” Hope yelped, her eyes widening and her lips parting in shock. She stared for a moment too long before shaking herself out of it with a cough. “Um, hi,” she said lamely.

Josie’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Hey,” she replied simply with a goofy grin.

Hope just stared for another awkward moment, distracted by the way Josie’s smile was so endearing. She didn’t seem to realize that she was blatantly staring at Josie’s mouth until Josie politely cleared her throat. 

Then, Hope remembered herself and blinked. She opened the door wider. “Oh, uh, you can come in if you want,” she muttered with a shy smile.

Josie complied, taking a step into the room. 

Hope shut the door behind her, turning around. She was still hanging onto the doorknob in a vice grip, her knuckles turning white. “I was gonna come talk to you,” Hope admitted, looking down at her feet. “But I was a little scared your Dad would murder me if he caught me in the hallway.”

Josie walked further into the room and sat on the edge of Hope’s bed, looking back at her. “Well, I’m not on lockdown,” she retorted with a wink. “So, there’s no rule saying I can’t come here.”

Hope smiled, seeming to relax a little now that Josie's focus wasn’t on her acting like an idiot. “Is that how it works?” she asked playfully.

Josie shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind getting in trouble for you,” she said. Hope felt the nerves come back full force, butterflies exploding in her stomach. “Besides, if I remember correctly, I agreed to howl at the moon with you tonight.”

Hope chuckled nervously, having forgotten all about the howl-at-the-moon thing due to the chaos. “Too bad we can’t go outside.”

Josie shrugged. “I know a good spell for that,” she replied. She raised an eyebrow at the fact that Hope was still all the way on the other side of the room. “Come here.”

Hope gulped, feeling her stomach flutter in response to the command. She obeyed, though, reluctantly letting go of the doorknob and padding over to sit next to Josie on the bed.

Josie reached out to grab Hope’s hand and siphon from her. Their fingers intertwined effortlessly, and Hope felt the magic begin to leave her body. Hope swallowed thickly, the gesture feeling way more intimate than she figured Josie intended.

After a moment, Josie cast a spell that turned the ceiling above them transparent. Hope’s eyes lit up with recognition as she glanced up to see the starry night sky.

Josie laid back on the bed without letting go of Hope’s hand. Hope followed her lead, lying flat on her back beside her. They fell into a comfortable silence as they both stared up at the stars.

“This is actually one of my favorite spells,” Hope murmured, almost as if she were talking to herself. “Sometimes I use it when I can’t get to sleep.”

Hope was completely focused on the sky, a slightly awed look on her face. Josie glanced over at her with the same kind of awe in her eyes, but Hope didn’t notice. “So do I,” Josie admitted, her voice soft and gentle. They fell into a comfortable silence for a pause. Hope only realized that Josie was staring at her when she saw her smirk out of the corner of her eye. “You’re really cute as a wolf, by the way.”

Hope instantly frowned, offended. “I’m not _cute_ ,” she muttered defensively, her cheeks reddening.

Josie giggled, turning her head to look back up at the stars. “Mhm,” she hummed knowingly, pursing her lips. “Well, you didn’t see how you were wagging your tail.”

Hope gasped dramatically. She dropped Josie’s hand and sat up. She turned to look down at Josie, who was still lying on her back. Josie grinned back up at her cheekily, and Hope narrowed her eyes in response. “How _dare_ you,” Hope drawled, given away by the playful glint in her eye. “I literally dismembered a man.”

“I know,” Josie replied. “And you were so proud of it,” she teased with a wink.

Hope blushed even darker. “Oh, shut up,” she grumbled, flopping down on her back and pouting.

Josie giggled again. Hope couldn’t help but smile at the sound. “It was really sweet of you,” Josie said, her tone becoming more serious. She rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows so she could look at Hope directly.

Hope cleared her throat nervously at their newfound proximity. She could feel the heat radiating off of Josie’s body, since their sides were now pressed right up against each other. 

Hope raised an eyebrow, trying to cover up her nerves. “What was sweet of me?” she asked. “When I mauled the Necromancer for you?”

Josie nodded. “Yup,” she said simply, apparently taking no issue with Hope’s description of the night’s events. “Thanks for saving me. Again.”

Hope gulped, glancing away. Josie was staring at her pretty intensely, and Hope couldn’t entirely decode the look on her face. “Yeah, anytime,” she replied awkwardly. 

Hope was suddenly struck by a wave of self-consciousness. She worried that she might obviously be acting weird, so she forced herself to make eye contact again. 

This probably wasn’t the best idea, because from this angle she could suddenly distinguish between the darker and lighter flecks of brown in Josie’s irises. It was something she’d never noticed before, but it instantly entranced her. Hope’s lips parted and her self-consciousness melted away. She stared for a moment, looking hypnotized.

Josie was studying Hope very carefully. Her mouth quirked up into a little smile. 

The movement prompted Hope to look down at Josie’s lips, and Hope’s breath stuttered in her throat. “I really missed you,” Hope whispered, her voice thick like she had no control over what she was saying.

Josie’s eyes widened, her smile drooping into a frown. “Hope, I was only gone for a couple of days,” she said softly.

Hope licked her lips and swallowed thickly, looking back up into Josie’s eyes. “It felt like forever,” she replied matter-of-factly, her shoulders twitching in a way that might’ve been a shrug if she weren’t lying on her back. Hope bit her lip, studying Josie’s expression intently. “Were you scared?” she asked after a moment.

Josie’s eyes softened. “Why would I be scared?” she murmured, leaning closer and reaching out with a hand to gently brush a lock of hair behind Hope’s ear. “I knew you’d come for me. You always do.”

Hope’s lips parted again. Then, she blinked rapidly and cleared her throat to try to get a hold of herself. She sat up suddenly, facing Josie and crossing her legs. 

The abrupt movement surprised Josie, but she quickly recovered. She pushed herself up with her arms and shifted to face Hope. Her knee bumped gently into Hope’s shin as she adjusted herself to sit back on her calves, looking at Hope expectantly. 

Hope opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she spoke. “I was scared,” she admitted quietly, like it was a secret. Hope’s bottom lip quivered ever-so-slightly, and Josie’s brow furrowed with concern. Hope looked down at her hands, fiddling with them in her lap. “I almost thought I lost you.” 

Josie frowned. “Well, you didn’t,” she said firmly. When Hope didn’t react, Josie reached out and grabbed one of her hands with her own. “Hey, look at me,” Josie commanded.

Hope looked up almost immediately, only pausing for a second to stare at the way Josie was now holding her hand. 

Hope’s eyes looked a little watery, and Josie felt her heart break a little bit. “It was stupid of me to store my power away in the first place,” Josie murmured with an apologetic frown. “I won’t do it again. I promise.” 

Hope looked uncharacteristically fragile, scanning Josie’s expression like she was double checking to make sure that Josie was telling the truth. She gulped and gave Josie a short nod. “Okay,” she said.

Josie smiled and reached out to pull Hope into a tight hug. Hope froze for a moment, but then she melted into it and hugged Josie back. 

Hope’s eyes closed and she deflated with a sigh, feeling Josie’s thumb rubbing gentle circles over a knot on her shoulder. The sensation was heavenly. Hope truly wished she could just stay there forever.

Hope almost pouted from the disappointment when Josie eventually pulled back, but Josie didn’t go far. She stayed very close, in fact. Their faces were only inches apart, and Hope felt her breath once again get caught in her throat.

Hope’s struggle wasn’t eased by the way Josie was looking at her – reverently, like she thought that Hope was beautiful. Josie reached out, carefully trailing her fingertips along Hope’s jawline. The touch prompted Hope to suck in a ragged breath. 

Hope blushed so intensely that she wouldn’t have been too surprised if she had just caught on fire. She averted eye contact to stare down at her lap, thoroughly embarrassed by the sound, which struck her as desperate and obvious when it reverberated back to her own ears.

Josie didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all. In fact, the corner of Josie’s lip twitched upward. She was apparently satisfied with the reaction. She caressed Hope’s jaw more firmly, tilting Hope's chin up to encourage Hope to look back at her once again. “Hope, can I kiss you?” Josie asked quietly.

Instantly, Hope’s eyes widened. Her jaw went slack. She appeared to be completely dumbfounded. “Wait,” she blurted out, her voice wavering. “You want to kiss me?”

Josie giggled, brushing her thumb across Hope’s cheekbone and glancing down at it, as though she were admiring Hope’s blush. “Yes, I want to kiss you,” Josie purred, looking back into Hope’s eyes with a playful glint in her own. “ _Of course_ , I want to kiss you. I thought I was being obvious.”

Hope felt her mouth go dry. Josie was still looking at her expectantly, but it took a moment for Hope to recover from the shock. “I… uh…,” Hope sputtered, swallowing thickly and somehow turning even more red. Josie waited patiently for her answer. Hope found it a bit unfair that Josie didn’t appear to be nearly as nervous as she felt. “Y-yeah. You can kiss me.”

Josie smiled like things were falling into place exactly like she’d always wanted them to. To Hope, it was breathtaking. Josie didn’t lean in right away – she just stared at Hope for a moment longer instead, like she was trying to commit the scene to memory. Hope was thankful for it. She was trying desperately to calm down; it felt like her heart was about to explode.

Josie finally leaned forward, gently cupping Hope’s jaw. Josie allowed their lips to just ghost over each other for an excruciating moment, but then she moved forward and connected them.

Hope felt like her mind had suddenly gone blank. All of the panicky thoughts that had been floating around in it just a moment earlier were gone. She was now only aware of the soft press of Josie’s lips against her own and the fact that her blood felt like it was boiling.

Absentmindedly, Hope wondered if Josie might’ve cast a spell on her or something. It felt like something in her chest had been lit aflame. She knew that Josie liked fire spells, after all. 

The thought flew out of her mind like it had never been there at all when Josie tugged her a little bit closer by the back of the neck. Josie pressed their lips together insistently, reminding Hope to actually kiss her back instead of just sitting there like a brainless statue.

Tentatively, Hope tilted her head and matched the movements of Josie’s lips with her own. Josie broke contact for a second to release a content sigh, but she immediately brought their lips together again. Josie rose onto her knees, hovering over Hope and threading her fingers into Hope’s hair.

Hope reached out and placed her hands on Josie’s hips, not quite knowing where else to put them. Hope’s heart was pounding, and she was finding it difficult to do anything besides follow Josie’s lead. She’d imagined this a few times before, but she never quite expected that Josie would be the one calling the shots.

It felt way better than anything Hope could have imagined.

When Hope felt Josie gently pull her bottom lip between her teeth, she broke the kiss with a sharp gasp. She suddenly felt completely overwhelmed, her chest heaving violently. 

Josie only pulled back slightly, keeping their foreheads pressed together. She was breathing heavily herself. After a moment, Josie opened her eyes. Josie chuckled and darted forward to steal a quick peck. “Hope, you’re shaking,” Josie whispered against her lips, placing her own hands over Hope’s to steady them on her waist.

Hope cleared her throat and gulped, finding it a bit more difficult than usual to process the meaning of Josie’s words. “Um… I… I’m sorry,” she stuttered with a heavy blush, her voice breathy and unsteady. “You just make me feel really nervous,” she blurted out.

“I make _Hope Mikaelson_ nervous?” Josie teased, grinning as she pulled away a little farther to fully admire Hope’s blush. Josie looked absolutely thrilled with herself. “Well, _that’s_ flattering.”

Despite the fact that she was a little bit mortified and kind of wanted to hide her face, Hope couldn’t help but smile back at the broad grin on Josie’s face. Josie looked so happy, like she’d just won the lottery. Hope hesitated, her mouth opening and closing as she debated over whether or not to say something. “I really like you, Josie,” she finally admitted, biting her lip and looking down.

Josie softened at how adorable the girl in front of her was acting. “I really like you, too,” she replied with a genuine smile. “That’s kind of an understatement, honestly,” she mumbled under her breath with a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

Hope forgot all about her mortification and smiled brightly in response to the admission, the corners of her eyes crinkling. Josie grinned back at her.

After they just beamed at each other for a minute, Josie got a mischievous look in her eye and decided to lean in again.

Hope laughed when Josie took her off guard, pushing Hope back onto the bed a little roughly and crawling on top of her. 

She stopped laughing pretty quickly when Josie kissed her, her breath hitching in her throat. It was even more overwhelming at this angle, and Hope could feel every cell in her body instantly switch into overdrive.

When Josie dipped down and wrapped her lips around Hope’s pulse point, Hope yelped and carefully pushed her back by the shoulders. “C-can we take things slow?” Hope blurted out frantically. “I kinda feel like I’m gonna pass out,” she admitted without thinking, feeling the mortification fully encompass her before she even managed to complete her sentence.

Josie couldn’t help but let out a surprised laugh, her eyes radiating warmth and affection. “Yes, of course we can,” she said through her giggles. She kissed Hope on the cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to rush you.”

“N-no, it’s okay,” Hope reassured her, her breathing still labored.

Josie decided to allow Hope to calm down, rolling off of her. Josie curled up into Hope’s side and rested her head on Hope’s shoulder, reaching out to hold her hand. 

They cuddled in comfortable silence for a while, as Hope attempted to slow her heartbeat and worried that Josie might be able to hear it. 

Josie eventually broke the silence. “It’s probably getting late, actually,” she murmured to herself, thinking out loud. “Maybe I should head back to my room.” Josie didn’t sound too thrilled about the idea. 

Hope frowned, not thrilled about the idea, either. “Can you stay over?” she asked.

Josie looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her lips.

“Not like that,” Hope muttered with a grimace. “I just want to know you’re safe.”

Josie studied Hope’s expression intently. “Alright,” she agreed easily.

Hope fell asleep with a smile on her face, but only after she reluctantly accepted that she was a little spoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the slow burn was worth it
> 
> Follow me on twitter @Th3Nutcase


	21. Awakening

The next morning, Hope woke up feeling comfier than she’d ever felt in her entire life. She was wrapped up tightly in her blankets like a burrito. She inhaled deeply, burrowing closer to the intoxicating scent of vanilla that was radiating off of the pillow beneath her.

She flushed a little as she realized that it wasn’t a pillow at all. She was sprawled out right on top of Josie, her face nuzzled into the crook of Josie’s neck. Josie didn’t seem to mind, though – she was sleeping soundly, her arms wrapped around Hope’s shoulders like she wanted to make sure that Hope wouldn’t go anywhere.

Josie didn’t have to worry about that, of course – Hope couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be.

Gradually, memories of last night came back to her. The more she recalled, the more difficult it became to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. 

Hope released a soft, satisfied sigh. She pulled back just a little bit so that she could look up at Josie’s face. Hope’s eyes glazed over in awe. Josie looked beautiful. She looked so peaceful, like she knew that nothing could hurt her here. 

Hope couldn’t bring herself to look away from the image – the way Josie’s lips were parted ever-so-slightly; the way she looked so relaxed and vulnerable. The lighting was more vivid than usual. There was something striking about the contrast posed by the shadows. It was like the air had substance; like the moment was heavy and undeniably real.

The feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to Hope. She was growing used to it at this point, really; things felt this overwhelming every time Josie walked into a room. It was just different than usual, because Josie wasn’t staring back at her. Hope didn’t have to feel all flustered and self-conscious, trying to figure out how to act normal. She could just revel in it.

Hope tried to commit the image to memory, thinking that she might paint it later. She reached out, brushing a few misplaced strands of hair behind Josie’s ear. She lightly traced a fingertip across Josie’s bottom lip, her own lips parting like she was in a trance.

Josie was apparently stirring awake now, too, because her lips twitched upward into a little smile in response to the contact. Hope pulled her hand back, slightly embarrassed that she’d been caught. 

“Stop looking at me like that,” Josie murmured sleepily without opening her eyes. She tugged Hope a little closer, causing their legs to brush up against each other under the sheets. “You’re gonna make me blush.”

Hope grinned, beaming up at her even though Josie still hadn’t opened her eyes. “Good morning, Jo,” she whispered, her voice dripping with adoration.

Josie withdrew one of her arms from around Hope to reach up and rub at her eyes. “G’morning,” she mumbled, her eyes reluctantly squinting open. She instantly smiled back when she caught sight of the grin on Hope’s face, like she couldn’t help it. 

Hope took a moment to try to contain herself. It was a difficult task, because she felt like she was just about bursting at the seams with affection for the girl beneath her. “I could get used to waking up like this,” Hope admitted shyly, averting her gaze and nervously chewing on her lip. 

Josie smiled wider at the statement, reaching out to gently brush back a lock of hair that had just fallen in front of Hope’s eyes. “We kissed last night, right?” she asked, her tone blunt and to-the-point. “I didn’t dream it?”

Hope laughed, her shyness melting away. She looked at Josie again, brightening at the playful look in her eye. “Yes,” Hope replied with an even cheesier grin. “We did.”

“Good,” Josie said simply, looking thrilled about the fact that she’d managed to make Hope laugh. Her eyes twinkled mischievously, and she managed to suddenly maneuver Hope onto her back. Josie crawled on top of her, straddling her hips. “So,” she murmured with a smirk. “Can I kiss you again?”

Instead of answering, Hope just blushed furiously, taken off guard. Her mouth opened and closed with no sound coming out of it, much like a fish.

Josie giggled. “You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed,” she teased, reaching out to gently pin one of Hope’s hands beside her head on the mattress. She intertwined their fingers.

Hope pouted, blushing even more intensely to her own dismay. “Stop calling me cute,” she practically whined, doing nothing to help her case.

Josie just shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Only if you stop being cute,” she countered playfully. Josie leaned forward and planted a brief, firm kiss on Hope’s forehead, pulling back with a warm smile. 

Hope’s heart fluttered pleasantly in her chest. She was struck by the realization that Josie probably wasn’t going to kiss her on the lips again unless Hope asked her to.

Spurred by a spark of boldness, Hope reached out with her free hand. She gently tugged Josie down by the back of her neck and guided her to connect their lips, her eyelids fluttering closed.

The kiss was short and chaste. Somehow, it still took Hope’s breath away. When their lips parted, Hope sucked in a heavy gasp. “You can kiss me whenever you want to, Josie,” she whispered in an exhale against Josie’s lips. “You don’t have to ask.”

Josie’s eyes fluttered open, and she gazed down at the girl underneath her. Hope still had her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted, like she was just waiting for Josie to kiss her again. 

Josie smiled, dipping down to plant a kiss on the underside of Hope’s jaw. “Careful what you wish for,” Josie murmured. “I might end up kissing you all the time if you let me kiss you whenever I want to.”

Hope was about to say that that didn’t sound like such a bad thing, but the words got caught in her throat. Josie’s lips were suddenly against hers again. 

It was much different from the night before – everything about it was slow and gentle. It was almost lazy, like Josie hadn’t fully woken up yet.

Hope melted right into it with a sigh, splaying her hands across Josie’s back as her toes curled into the mattress. Josie intended to respect Hope’s request to take things slow; Hope could feel it. Josie wasn’t rushing her toward anything – she had no expectation for things to go further. 

Hope didn’t feel like she was on the verge of a heart attack this time around. She felt safe enough to fully immerse herself in the moment. Josie pressed down into her, her adoration making itself apparent in the slow, languid movements of her mouth.

Hope’s brow furrowed, her eyes shutting tight. She attempted to study the foreign warmth that kept flooding through her chest in waves. The more closely she focused on it, the more overwhelming it became, until she had to pull back.

“Stop,” Hope gasped, her voice sounding a little desperate. Josie immediately pulled back, her eyes snapping open like she was afraid that she’d overstepped. Hope reached out to caress Josie’s jaw, trying to ease her worry before it began. Hope’s lips twitched up into a little smile while she tried and failed to get her breathing under control. “I’ll never be able to get up,” she muttered quietly as an excuse, not quite ready to talk about her feelings.

Josie relaxed and chuckled. “That’s fine with me,” she replied, her voice huskier than usual.

Hope playfully rolled her eyes, pushing Josie onto her back by the shoulders. She shifted to cuddle up into her side, returning them to the position they’d woken up in.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, allowing their heartrates to return to baseline. Josie absentmindedly ran a hand through Hope’s hair, her eyelids beginning to droop closed.

Josie’s stomach growled abruptly. Both Hope and Josie jumped, their eyes widening like the sound had come from an animal. Hope glanced up at Josie and burst into a short laugh, but then she moved to get up.

“No, don’t _leave_ ,” Josie whined like a child, pulling Hope closer to her chest with a pout. “I’m so comfy.”

Hope sighed. “I wish I could stay,” she admitted, letting herself melt into Josie’s embrace for a moment longer. “But I wanna get you something to eat before we have to go to class.”

Josie frowned. “I’d rather cuddle and starve,” she replied matter-of-factly.

Hope chuckled. “You’re not starving on my watch, Jo,” she said. Hope pulled back again and rolled out of bed, much to Josie’s dismay. Hope grabbed her shoes from the floor, nearly tripping as she sleepily tried to put them on without sitting down. “Stay here, I’ll be right back. I promise.”

“Ugh, okay,” Josie groaned. She rolled over onto her stomach, grabbing a pillow to bury her face into. “You owe me more cuddling,” she said into the pillow, her voice muffled and barely comprehensible.

Hope smiled, her gaze pausing to linger on the sight of Josie sprawled out on her bed for a moment longer before she went out the door.

Not long after Hope left, there was a knock on the door. Josie grunted unhappily, trying to pull the pillow over her head to block out the noise.

The knocking came again, louder. Reluctantly, Josie rolled out of bed, a tired frown on her face. She figured that Hope must have just forgotten her key or something, and she padded across the room.

Josie pulled open the door mid-yawn, running a hand through her hair to try to make it more presentable. She jolted awake when she saw who was on the other side, her eyes widening in shock. “Landon?”

“Josie?” Landon said, looking equally surprised. “What are you doing here?”

For a moment, Josie could do nothing but stare at him, her eyes wide and her jaw gaping open. Then, she lightly shook her head to try to snap herself out of it. She cleared her throat, blinking rapidly. “Oh. Uh… Hope and I just…,” she started, frantically searching for something to say. “Had a sleepover,” she decided on with a heavy blush, glancing away and gulping nervously. She cleared her throat again before she looked back at him. “Since when are you alive?”

Landon frowned, first at her awkwardness and then at her syntax.

Josie physically cringed at her own lack of tact. She roughly pulled a hand through her hair, trying to make herself act normal. “I mean… sorry, that came out wrong. I’m glad you’re alive,” she corrected herself. “I just, uh… no one told me you were back.”

Landon shrugged it off easily enough, giving her an understanding smile. “Well, I just got back. Dr. Saltzman only managed to wake me up late last night,” he explained. Landon seemed to lose interest in Josie before she reacted to the information, standing on his tippy toes to try to peer into Hope's room over her shoulder. 

Josie shifted uncomfortably, tugging the door closer to her hip to block his view on instinct even though she knew there was nothing for him to see. “Impeccable timing,” she muttered to herself under her breath. Landon didn’t seem to hear her.

“Is Hope in there?” Landon asked, still trying to see past Josie and not looking at her at all. “I really need to talk to her.”

Josie frowned. She fiddled with the doorknob anxiously, feeling dread start to gather in her stomach. “Um, no. She’s not here,” she answered quietly. “Sorry. I’ll let her know you stopped by when she gets back.”

Landon seemed to snap out of his distraction when he processed her answer. He looked back at her with a displeased frown on his face. “It’s really important, Josie,” he insisted impatiently. “We had a fight right before my coma. I was hoping to make it up to her,” he explained. “Do you think maybe I could come inside and wait?”

Josie scowled automatically, her eyes darkening. “I think you should come back later,” she snapped, trying and failing to be polite when the jealousy got the better of her. She suddenly felt violently repelled from the conversation and shut the door in Landon’s face before she could think twice about it.

Landon stared at the door for a moment, completely dumbfounded.

He was just about to turn away in defeat, but Hope happened to walk around the corner. She was balancing a plate in one hand and a cup of juice in the other, staring intently at the cup to ensure that the juice wouldn’t spill. 

Hope nearly tripped when she glanced up to see Landon standing next to her door. Landon’s eyes lit up with excitement when he saw her. 

Hope looked like she didn’t know what to feel. “Landon?” she drawled cautiously as she began to walk closer, squinting at him intently like she wanted to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

“Hope!” Landon exclaimed. He immediately surged forward and threw his arms around her with a big smile.

“Um… uh,” Hope sputtered, a big drop of orange juice flying out of the cup she was holding and landing God knows where. There was a pause, in which Hope attempted to figure out whether she should feel relieved or panicked. After a moment, Hope cleared her throat. “Okay, that’s long enough,” she muttered awkwardly over his shoulder.

When Landon finally pulled back from the hug, he instantly leaned in for a kiss. Hope jerked away like she’d been burned before he could make contact, nearly tripping over her feet and plummeting to the ground. Another drop of orange juice launched out of the cup and landed on her shirt, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hope hissed frantically in a whisper, glancing around the empty hall like she was anxious that someone might have been watching.

Landon looked surprised and a little bit hurt that she had pulled back. “I’ve missed you,” he explained simply with a shrug.

Hope stared at him blankly for a couple of moments, looking a little panicked. “Landon, we broke up,” she reminded him in a hushed whisper, her voice tense and urgent like she desperately needed him to understand.

Landon’s brow furrowed with confusion. “Well, yeah, I know,” he replied. “But I thought me being in a coma would change things.”

Hope stared at him, still looking panicky. She opened and closed her mouth, thinking hard about what to say and apparently reconsidering several times. “I mean, I’m glad you’re okay,” she started, still trying to keep her voice quiet even though no one was around. “I really am. But it doesn't change the fact that I broke up with you,” she reminded him once again, frowning.

Landon shrugged again, still confused. “I didn’t think you were serious,” he claimed, making no effort to hush his voice.

Hope recoiled, her brow furrowing violently from confusion. “Why would I not be serious?” she asked. She abandoned all attempts to hush her voice, too. She sounded a bit offended.

“I don’t know,” Landon started, raising his eyebrows like she should already know what he was about to say. “We’ve fought a bunch of times and you always get over it.”

The comment caused Hope’s demeanor to shift so rapidly that it nearly gave Landon whiplash. She narrowed her eyes at him, her jaw clenching to contain her irritation. “What do you mean, _I always_ _get over it?_ ” she snapped in reply.

Landon looked at her warily, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know what I mean,” he replied.

Hope stared him down for another tense moment. “I don’t,” she said matter-of-factly. She glanced down and seemed to suddenly realize that she was still holding a plate full of eggs and toast, and that it was probably getting cold. She also realized that Josie was probably even hungrier now. She decided that being irritated was just going to delay her further. “Look, Landon, I don’t have time for this right now. Let’s talk later.”

Hope walked past him and attempted to balance the cup of juice in the crook of her elbow while she opened her door.

Landon didn’t seem to want to give up on the conversation, so he followed her. Even when she went inside and turned back around to try to close the door, he reached out to keep it from shutting all the way. “Hope – ”

“I said _later_ ,” she hissed through the crack of the door. She shut the door firmly enough that another drop of orange juice launched out of the cup. She frowned, looking down at the cup to find it half-empty. Her frown deepened when she noticed that most of it had apparently landed on her shirt.

When she finally turned around, Josie was watching her from the bed with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, hey,” Hope said shyly, apparently having briefly forgotten that Josie was in her room. She walked over to the bed, raising the plate to draw attention to it. “I brought you food.”

“Thanks,” Josie replied quietly, taking the plate when Hope held it out to her. Josie picked up the fork to shovel some eggs into her mouth.

Hope swerved to place the remainder of the juice on the bedside table. She found a few napkins and took a few moments to attempt to dab the orange juice off of her shirt.

After accepting that the napkins were not going to solve the problem, Hope sat next to Josie on the edge of the bed. She looked up at Josie, who was now distracting herself by chewing on a piece of toast. Hope frowned at the fact that Josie hadn't even glanced at her. “Is everything okay?” she asked tentatively.

Josie looked up at her, surprised. She chewed and swallowed, glancing away nervously. “Yeah,” she answered.

Hope frowned. “You're lying,” she observed anxiously, like she was talking to herself. Hope's frown deepened when Josie didn't immediately deny it. Josie just flinched and looked up at her warily, her mouth opening without any sound coming out. Hope felt a sudden wave of panic. “Oh, God. Do you regret last night?”

Josie’s eyes widened, and she immediately shook her head. “No!” she blurted out, desperate to get that thought out of Hope’s head. “God, no,” she continued a bit more quietly. Josie blushed, staring back down at her plate before she spoke again. “I thought I made it pretty obvious this morning that I didn’t regret last night,” she mumbled.

Hope relaxed a little bit, the tension draining from her shoulders. “Oh,” she replied, feeling dumb. “Yeah. I just didn’t know if you’d changed your mind.”

Josie reached over and put her plate on the bedside table. “Hope,” she began, reaching out to hold Hope’s hand and looking back into her eyes. “Of course not.”

Hope felt herself relax, the feeling of Josie's hand in hers calming her down. “Okay,” she said simply. “So, what’s wrong, then?”

Josie looked back at her, apparently conflicted about whether or not she should say something. “I just…” she trailed off, swallowing thickly. “Landon’s awake.”

Hope stared back at her, waiting for her to continue. When Josie didn’t say anything else, Hope tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy. “Yeah, I saw him in the hall,” she replied, fully aware that Josie had seen her turn Landon away at the door.

“Well, he seems to think that you guys didn’t really break up,” Josie continued, chewing on her lip anxiously and once again averting eye contact.

Hope seemed to realize what was on Josie’s mind. “We did,” she replied firmly. “Josie, look at me,” she commanded, turning to face Josie more directly. Josie obeyed, looking up from the floor. “I don’t want to be with Landon. I meant what I said last night; I really like you. I want to be with _you_.”

Josie scanned over Hope's expression and then deflated with a sigh, looking very relieved. “Oh, okay,” she said, intertwining their fingers. “I'm sorry, I guess it just freaked me out. He really seemed to think that you guys would make up.”

Hope smiled a little bit now that the tension was mostly resolved. “Well, he’s just still in denial, I guess,” she suggested with a shrug. “I mean, I broke up with him right before he went into that coma. So, I guess to him it’s still really fresh.”

Josie’s brow furrowed at this. She was apparently thinking hard about something. She pouted and stared down at their hands.

“What are you thinking, Jo?” Hope murmured after a moment, gently squeezing Josie’s hand to get her attention.

Josie looked up at her, her pout still firmly in place. “It’s just,” she started, straining to map out whatever she wanted to say. “In Landon’s experience, it’s like you guys broke up yesterday. So, if we get together, he’ll feel like you broke up with him and then got into a new relationship the next day,” she thought aloud. “I mean, that’s exactly what he did to me. And it hurt.”

“Jo,” Hope started, her expression twisting with regret. “I’m really sorry that I –”

“It's in the past, Hope,” Josie dismissed with a shake of her head. “That’s not what I’m trying to say. I just know how it feels. And I really don’t want to make anyone else feel that way.”

Hope’s stomach dropped. “Wait, are you saying that you don’t want to be with me?” she asked, her throat suddenly feeling raw.

“No!” Josie responded, her eyes widening. “God, no, that’s not what I mean,” she reassured Hope. Hope swallowed thickly, calming down slightly but still feeling very confused. Josie gave her a meaningful look. “Of course I want to be with you. I just think that if we waited to tell people for a couple of weeks, it might give Landon a little bit of time to process the fact that you two broke up.”

Hope stared intently at Josie, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. “You want to keep it a secret,” she restated slowly for herself.

Josie nodded. “Just for a little while,” she emphasized. “And it doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time together. Or... y’know,” she hinted, raising an eyebrow in a way that immediately made Hope flush. “Would that be okay with you?”

Hope thought about it for a moment. “I mean, yeah, I don’t see why not,” she answered, shrugging. Hope’s brow furrowed as a thought seemed to hit her like a freight train. “But, wait,” she started carefully, frowning. “We can tell Lizzie, right?”

Josie raised an eyebrow and chuckled darkly. “Hope, if we tell Lizzie it’s the same as telling everyone,” Josie pointed out. “She can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

Hope’s eyes widened nearly imperceptibly. “So,” she began, drawing out the word like she was trying to avoid reaching her next sentence. “I can’t tell Lizzie.” Hope felt the dread gathering in her stomach.

“Only for a couple of weeks, I promise,” Josie assured her. “I mean, it can’t be that hard, right? Just talk to her about other things.”

Hope was tempted to blurt out _‘we don’t talk about other things_.’ She immediately realized that it would be difficult and very embarrassing to explain the fact that her entire friendship with Lizzie revolved around Lizzie attempting to set her up with Josie. 

Hope cleared her throat. “Um, well. Okay,” she agreed reluctantly, swallowing thickly when she realized what she had just condemned herself to.

Josie just beamed at her, completely oblivious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is randomly almost twice the length of previous chapters and I don't know why.  
> Sorry if the beginning gives you cavities or something
> 
> Follow me on twitter if you so desire  
> @Th3Nutcase


	22. Poking

Alaric was never very creative when it came to punishment. 

Technically, overseeing punishment was one of his responsibilities as a headmaster. But he had become very used to constantly juggling other responsibilities, like preventing his students from being eaten.

As a result, he was in the habit of taking a one-size-fits-all approach. For lesser offenses like skipping class, he gave out detention. For more serious offenses like starting a brawl at a football game, he gave out community service.

It turned out that going on an unapproved and terribly-planned mission without telling anyone was a big deal to him, so Hope and Lizzie found themselves condemned to community service.

Ideally, Hope would’ve locked herself in her room for the next two weeks and avoided interacting with Lizzie altogether. She couldn’t think of any other way to avoid Lizzie finding out about her new relationship status.

Sometimes, Hope found herself worrying that Lizzie might be able to read her mind. It reminded Hope a bit of Dark Josie. Lizzie could just squint suspiciously at her, and Hope would feel like her entire psyche had just been ruthlessly analyzed.

Unfortunately for Hope, community service meant that she had to be alone with Lizzie as soon as she got out of class on Monday. Her only consolation was the fact that she might be able to get away with pretending to be interested in trash for a few hours.

“I can’t believe my Dad is making us do community service _again_ ,” Lizzie whined, scowling at anything that fell into her line of sight the second she stepped out of the car.

Hope glanced at Lizzie out of the corner of her eye. She just sighed miserably in reply.

Hope had thought it through a hundred times over since Alaric told them about their punishment that morning. She’d ultimately decided that her best strategy would be to avoid speaking altogether.

Lizzie couldn’t catch her in a lie if she didn’t say anything, after all.

Lizzie frowned. “So, what’s the game plan, Mikaelson?” she called out to Hope, still scanning the area. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Graffiti didn’t go too well for me last time,” she mumbled, scowling at the memory.

Hope bit her lip nervously. So much for not speaking at all. “Well, trash went smoothly enough for me last time,” she replied quickly, picking up a stick and a trash bag. 

Hope specifically recalled Lizzie saying that she didn't _"do trash"._ If Hope got lucky, Lizzie might do something else and leave her alone.

Hope was anything but lucky, of course. Lizzie didn’t even hesitate before picking up her own trash-poker. Hope eyed her warily, not so sure that it was wise to let Lizzie hold something so pointy. 

“ _Of course_ trash went smoothly for you last time,” Lizzie retorted with a roll of her eyes. “Last time you were poking at trash with your prospective lover. I’m sure it was one of the best days of your life, as much as my Dad intended for it to be a punishment.”

Hope clenched her jaw, glaring at Lizzie out of the corner of her eye. “Shut up, Lizzie,” she muttered, stabbing a piece of paper a little bit too violently and shoving it into the trash bag.

“Speaking of your prospective lover,” Lizzie drawled. “Was she with you last night or did she go and get herself kidnapped again?”

Hope tensed, casting a fleeting glance in Lizzie’s direction. “She was with me,” she admitted curtly, avoiding Lizzie’s eyes. Hope could hardly believe that the conversation had already gone exactly where she didn’t want it to go. She occupied herself with stabbing an empty soda can.

Lizzie looked pleased. “Good,” she began. “Since you _rudely_ ignored my text last night and I still haven’t even been briefed about the handholding, I’d like an update on your progress.”

“There isn’t progress,” Hope snapped a little too quickly. She gulped, feeling very self-conscious.

Lizzie pinned Hope with the skeptical glare that Hope had been dreading. “You spent the night with her, right?” Lizzie asked slowly, studying Hope’s face for a reaction. “How is there _not_ progress?”

Hope turned away under the pretense of looking for trash elsewhere. “I just asked her to stay over because I was worried,” Hope explained with a shrug, her tone urging Lizzie to let it go. She stabbed at a crumpled-up piece of paper a bit too forcefully. “Nothing happened, Lizzie,” she lied, the words making her throat feel raw.

“ _Nothing happened?!”_ Lizzie screeched, dropping her trash bag on the ground dramatically. Hope flinched. “You had her _in your bed_ and you _did nothing?!”_

“Lizzie, drop it,” Hope hissed over her shoulder. She felt herself beginning to blush, unable to stop herself from picturing what had _really_ happened the night before. The way Josie was so confident, and so sweet even though Hope was acting like a total idiot; how incredible it felt to _kiss her_ –

Hope swallowed thickly, scolding herself. She was red as a tomato and so _obviously_ flustered by Lizzie’s question – if she didn’t get a hold of herself, Lizzie was going to see right through her. 

Hope tried desperately to distract herself. There was an empty Pepsi can a few feet in front her. Hope attempted to convince herself that it was fascinating.

Lizzie instantly popped into Hope’s line of sight, vibrating with fury. “What do you mean _drop it?!”_ she snapped with a scowl, propping her hands on her hips. “I am not going to just _drop it_. Not until you two are married.”

Hope sighed miserably, her brow furrowing from the frustration. She tried and failed to think of a way to escape the conversation. “Look, maybe you should cool it with the Fairy Godmothering for a while,” she suggested, tightening her grip on the trash-poker until her knuckles turned white. “I mean, Josie did just go through a kind of traumatic thing. Maybe we should give her a week or two to recover.”

Hope thought that it was a decent deflection. Lizzie, however, recoiled like she was shocked and disgusted. “What the _hell_ are you talking about?” she hissed furiously in reply. “Hope, you just saved her ass from certain death. Now is the perfect time to make a move.”

Hope swallowed thickly, averting eye contact. “Well, I don’t think so,” she asserted, her voice wavering with uncertainty. She cleared her throat, trying to cover it up. “I think maybe what she needs right now…,” Hope trailed off awkwardly, nearly cringing in response to her own bullshit. “Is a friend.”

For a long, agonizing moment, Lizzie didn’t react at all. She just stared, her expression frozen between anger and disbelief. Then, she slowly cocked her head to the side, scowling and staring at Hope like she’d just claimed to be the messiah. “You’re fucking with me,” Lizzie spat with the utmost certainty.

Hope scowled. “I am _not_ –”

“Listen to me very carefully, Hope Mikaelson,” Lizzie growled, her glare so intense that Hope felt like she’d just been stabbed. “I _don’t_ _care_ how panicky and inept you become when my sister walks into a room.”

Hope released a strangled noise of protest, affronted.

Lizzie continued on as though she hadn’t heard it at all. “We are not _giving up_ after everything we’ve been through just because you’re getting cold feet,” she hissed venomously, her tone leaving no room for argument. “I, for one, didn’t waste all of this time and energy for nothing. You are _going_ to date my sister, whether you like it or not.”

Hope opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it. She just stared at Lizzie blankly, the light dimming from her eyes as she resigned herself to her fate.

Luckily for Hope (or, perhaps, unluckily for Hope), Landon suddenly appeared, much like a Pokémon in the tall grass. Hope’s eyes widened when he seemed to manifest out of thin air right over Lizzie’s shoulder.

“Hope!” Landon exclaimed with a smile. “Hey! I didn’t know that you'd be here.”

Hope’s wide eyes darted back to look at Lizzie, who was now scowling even more intensely because she'd heard Landon’s voice.

Hope looked back at Landon, opening her mouth to reply to him.

Lizzie spun around and began to speak before Hope could say a thing. “Oh, _God_ ,” she groaned dramatically, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. “ _I_ , for one, was actively hoping that you _wouldn’t_ be here, Frodo,” she snarked, looking him up and down with a critical scowl. He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, avoiding eye contact. “Why are you no longer in a coma?” Lizzie asked bluntly after a pause. “I’ve been enjoying you being in a coma.”

Landon just looked at Lizzie warily, like he didn’t know how to react.

“Lizzie,” Hope snapped after a beat, shooting Lizzie a stern glare. “Be nice.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes once again, side-eyeing Hope like her request was unreasonable.

Hope cleared her throat and looked back at Landon, also crossing her arms over her chest. “Landon, why are you here?” she asked, attempting to be polite even though she was feeling stressed as all hell.

Landon cleared his throat awkwardly and looked back at Hope, deciding to ignore Lizzie’s question altogether. “Well, I just come here sometimes to listen to music,” he explained with another shrug.

Hope recalled the fact that they were in a public park. “Right,” she acknowledged with a curt nod.

“Right,” Lizzie repeated, adding a scoff. “Because you can’t listen to music and cry in your room like a normal person.”

Hope elbowed Lizzie roughly in the ribs. Lizzie gasped, but she was surprisingly less dramatic about it than Hope expected her to be.

Landon once again shifted awkwardly on his feet. He seemed to avoid looking at Lizzie altogether. “Hope, do you maybe have time to talk now?” he asked, his voice sounding hopeful.

Hope’s eyes widened. “Uh,” she grunted. She glanced down at her trash-poker with a frown. “I mean… I’m a little busy.”

Landon stared back at her with a frown. “It’ll only take a few minutes,” he insisted, practically begging.

Hope frowned back at him. She glanced over at Lizzie, who was already staring at her as though she was checking whether or not Hope wanted to be alone with him. “Okay, yeah, I guess,” Hope agreed reluctantly, nodding to Lizzie and turning back to look at Landon.

Lizzie glared at Landon. “You have five minutes,” she snapped, grabbing her trash bag and stomping past him. “Then I’m taking her back,” she called over her shoulder.

Lizzie didn’t look too happy about having to leave them alone. She walked only about twenty feet away. Hope watched as Lizzie glanced back over her shoulder in a way that she probably thought was subtle. Hope instantly knew that Lizzie was shamelessly eavesdropping.

Landon seemed none-the-wiser about this, because he just began to talk without sparing Lizzie a second glance. “So, uh,” he started. “You and Lizzie are really close now.”

Hope nodded awkwardly. “Yeah,” she confirmed, clearing her throat. “We are.”

“When did that happen?” Landon asked, rubbing at the back of his neck.

Hope shrugged, a bit confused about why this was the topic of the conversation. “I mean, she remembered me before anyone else after Malivore,” she explained. A little smile formed on her lips because of the memory. “She’s been there for me ever since.”

Landon chuckled darkly. “I didn’t see that one coming,” he admitted, his expression unreadable.

Hope’s brow furrowed with confusion. She didn’t really understand what Landon was trying to say, or why he felt the need to interrupt her community service to say it. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

“I mean, come on, Hope,” he started, giving her a meaningful look. “Don’t you think she’s kind of…,” he trailed off, pausing like he wasn’t sure if he should complete his sentence. “I don’t know. Mean?”

Hope tensed, her expression immediately becoming guarded. 

The question took Hope off guard. She couldn’t completely _deny_ that Lizzie was mean. But Lizzie was... complicated. Sure, Lizzie taunted Hope about her feelings and got her caught up in all sort of stressful chaos. But her heart was in the right place – she did it because she wanted to help, in her own way.

Hope halted her train of thought. She refused to entertain Landon's question, partly because she knew that Lizzie was most likely listening in. It was also the principle of it; she really didn’t understand why Landon was interrupting her community service to ask her about this. 

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Hope asked, her tone controlled and restrained. “Because I’m kind of busy,” she said, lifting her trash bag as if to prove it. “And it sort of sounds like it can wait.”

Landon shifted on his feet, looking a bit scolded. “Well, no,” he admitted. “I actually wanted to talk about us.”

This didn’t do anything to make Hope feel more comfortable. She gulped, scanning Landon’s expression to try to read him. “Us?” she prompted.

“Yeah,” Landon confirmed, nodding. “I mean, earlier you just brushed me off, but I really think we should talk about things.”

Hope frowned. 

Landon continued, seeming unsure of whether or not Hope intended to say something. “I just wanted to know what you want me to do to get you back,” he said firmly, sounding determined.

Hope stared at him blankly. She glanced away from him, shifting on her feet. “I mean,” she began, clearing her throat awkwardly. “I don’t want you to _do_ anything, Landon,” she said, looking back at him. 

Landon didn’t seem to understand what Hope was trying to communicate to him. He scowled at her answer, apparently unwilling to accept it. “There has to be _something_ I can do,” he insisted.

Hope glanced away again, wishing that the ground would just swallow her whole so that she could escape. She remained silent for a second. “I don’t think this is the right place for this conversation,” she finally replied, setting her jaw and looking back at him.

Landon frowned, not satisfied with that response at all. “Oh,” he said. “Well, I just – ”

“Time’s up,” Lizzie suddenly interrupted with a fake smile. She stepped forward to stand beside Hope and turned to face Landon. “Please leave before I carve you like a rotisserie chicken,” she ordered, holding up the trash-poker in a vaguely threatening manner.

Hope’s eyes widened. “ _Lizzie_ ,” she scolded under her breath.

Landon seemed to barely register the comment, more concerned about the interruption. “That definitely wasn’t five minutes,” he protested, looking very displeased. “That was like two minutes.”

Lizzie shrugged, looking a lot like she didn’t care. “I disagree,” she said. “If you’d set a timer, maybe you'd have an argument. Now fly away, bird boy. We’re very busy being good Samaritans.”

Landon scowled, his expression darkening as he glared at Lizzie. He seemed to be acting bolder than he typically would, Hope noted. She figured that it might be because Lizzie was acting harsher than she typically would.

Hope sighed heavily, stepping in front of Lizzie to try to mediate the situation. “I’m sorry, Landon. Now’s not the best time,” she said apologetically. “We can talk later.”

Landon looked at her, his glare not entirely receding. “Yeah, okay,” he replied.

Lizzie narrowed her eyes, sensing the spite in his voice, but it seemed to fly under Hope’s radar. Landon turned and walked away, shoving his hands into his pockets a bit roughly.

He was barely out of earshot when Lizzie grabbed Hope by the wrist and spun her around. “Hope, why were you just _fraternizing_ with that emu?” she demanded with a scrutinizing glare.

Hope clenched her jaw. She really couldn’t seem to catch a break today. “Lizzie – ”

Lizzie interrupted her immediately, despite the fact that she’d just asked Hope a question. “Don’t _tell me_ ,” Lizzie growled, her eyes narrowing. “That _he_ is the one causing you to have second thoughts about Josie.”

Hope recoiled slightly, taken off guard. “Of course not,” she replied automatically, sounding offended that Lizzie would even think that. Hope crossed her arms over her chest defensively, knowing that she was treading on thin ice. “I’m _not_ having second thoughts about Josie,” she insisted.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Could’ve fooled me,” she snarked.

“I’m _not_ ,” Hope hissed through her teeth. “I’m very serious about Josie,” she muttered under her breath, looking down at her shoes and feeling herself start to blush again.

Lizzie stared at her intensely for a long pause. Hope didn’t look up from her shoes. Lizzie relaxed after a moment, apparently satisfied. “Good,” she said. “Then let’s figure out our next move.”

Hope flinched, her eyes darting up to Lizzie, looking frantic. “I just…,” she cut herself off. “I don’t…,” she cut herself off again. Hope fell silent, staring at Lizzie helplessly.

Hope decided to take the path of least resistance.

“ _Fine_ ,” Hope finally growled through her teeth. She stomped away, stabbing a can violently on her way. Lizzie trailed behind her happily, beginning to brainstorm and barely doing any of the work at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Lizzie.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter @Th3Nutcase


	23. Paddling

Lizzie burst into MG’s room without warning. She flipped on the lights. He startled awake and fell out of his bed with a panicked screech.

“Get up, MG, we’re going on a double date with my sister and her dog,” Lizzie commanded, already rifling through MG’s dresser.

“W-what?” MG sputtered, still sprawled out on the floor and rubbing at his now-bruised hip. He had been in the middle of a rather pleasant dream which Lizzie may or may not have been starring in. He was having trouble processing the fact that she was now here in real life. “A double date?”

“Yes,” Lizzie confirmed impatiently, not even glancing back at him. 

Lizzie smiled to herself when she seemed to find whatever she'd been searching for in MG’s bottom drawer. She turned around to carelessly toss MG’s swim trunks on top of him as though he were a piece of furniture. 

“We’re going kayaking down at the lake,” Lizzie further explained. “I’m hoping that Josie will save miracle baby from a shark or something.”

MG scrambled to his feet, still looking half asleep. “A shark?” he echoed, extremely confused. 

MG glanced down at himself and blushed, feeling exposed in only his boxers. He held his swim trunks out in front of him as an unsuccessful attempt to cover himself. 

This was what he got for trying to take a quick nap after class, he figured.

Lizzie seemed unconcerned with the fact that MG was borderline naked and embarrassed. She wasn’t even looking at him and had started to search for something else in his closet. “Yes,” she replied absentmindedly. “It should strengthen their bond if they reciprocally owe each other their lives.”

MG’s brow furrowed in confusion. “There aren’t any sharks in the lake,” he said carefully.

Lizzie turned back to him, throwing a towel into his chest. “Do you think that Hope is more like a German Shepherd or a Chow-Chow?” she asked seriously, completely ignoring his statement.

MG seemed to be even more confused by this. “Um,” he started, glancing to the side as he thought about it. “A German Shepherd, I guess?”

Lizzie pursed her lips, acknowledging his answer with a nod. “Hm,” she hummed. “Anyway, put on a shirt and meet us down at the dock in a half-hour.”

Lizzie stormed out of the room like she had somewhere to be, but not before stopping to give him a quick peck on the lips.

MG grinned to himself when Lizzie closed the door behind her, his confusion instantly becoming unimportant to him.

* * *

Lizzie waltzed into the room and didn’t waste any time. “Where’s your bathing suit?” she asked, staring at Josie expectantly.

Josie was sitting on her bed reading a book, but she glanced up from the page when she heard the question. “Why?” she asked, the question long and drawn out. She narrowed her eyes at Lizzie suspiciously.

Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly, crossing her arms over her chest. “We’re going kayaking,” she explained.

Josie frowned. “Kayaking?” she echoed, her voice confused and apprehensive. “What?”

“It’s the thing where you paddle around in a little boat,” Lizzie explained, raising an eyebrow like she thought Josie must be stupid.

Josie scowled. “I _know_ what kayaking is,” she claimed defensively, closing her book a little aggressively and placing it down on the bed beside her.

“Good, I’m glad we cleared that up,” Lizzie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “I’m gonna go find your biggest fan. Get dressed and meet us down at the dock.”

Josie only responded to that with a blank stare and a confused frown. 

“Hope is your biggest fan,” Lizzie clarified, unprompted.

Josie immediately blushed, her eyes widening. “I…,” she trailed off, taken off guard by the comment. She attempted to cover up the fact that she was so affected by clearing her throat and moving to get up off the bed. “What makes you say that?” she asked without looking at Lizzie, trying to act casual.

Lizzie watched Josie carefully, able to analyze her reaction since Josie was trying so hard to avoid eye contact. Lizzie seemed to find whatever she was looking for after a moment, the calculating look receding from her eyes. “Are you kidding?” Lizzie drawled. “She drools over you all the time.”

Josie’s eyes widened and she nearly choked on air, but Lizzie was already on her way out the door.

* * *

Lizzie somehow managed to get Hope and MG to carry a couple of two-person kayaks down to the dock without putting in any effort herself. 

Hope’s entire face lit up when she caught sight of Josie approaching through the trees. Lizzie just gave Josie a once-over and scowled. “Why are you not in a bathing suit?” she demanded in lieu of a greeting, crossing her arms over her chest.

Josie rolled her eyes. “Why do I have to be in a bathing suit to kayak?” she asked, gesturing at her jean short and T-shirt combo to try to indicate that it was sufficient.

Lizzie rolled her eyes back at her. Josie prepared herself to point out that Lizzie herself was not wearing a bathing suit in case Lizzie continued to argue. Lizzie seemed to think better of it. “Whatever,” she replied with a frustrated huff. “Let’s just go.”

Lizzie forcefully shoved Hope in Josie’s direction, pulling MG toward one of the kayaks by the wrist. After a brief struggle and a bit of confusion, they all somehow made it into their respective kayaks and launched out into the water. 

They only had one paddle per kayak. Naturally, Lizzie forced MG to navigate while she reclined behind him like a queen on her throne. Hope took it upon herself to paddle, probably because she thought that Josie deserved the same treatment.

Hope couldn’t really map out the chain of events that had led to them kayaking out on the lake. Sometimes, Lizzie was such a chaotic force that it was disorienting.

“Let’s go into that mysterious, isolated alcove,” Lizzie suggested in a random and highly suspicious manner, pointing ahead at a narrow strip of water bracketed by trees. MG only hesitated for a moment before he began to paddle toward it.

Hope hesitated for a bit longer than MG, resting the paddle on her lap and staring at the back of Lizzie’s head as though she might be able to see into it if she tried hard enough.

Hope felt the boat shift as Josie leaned forward behind her. “Do you think she’s going to kill us?” she whispered into Hope’s ear.

Hope froze, shivering at the feeling of Josie’s breath fanning over her neck. She opened her mouth but thought better of it and just shrugged in response, not trusting her voice.

Lizzie twisted around in her seat. “You two better not be trying to sneak away!” she shouted, bracketing her mouth with her hands to project her voice.

“Yeah, yeah!” Hope called back to her with a resentful scowl, reluctantly beginning to paddle toward them.

The trees narrowed in around them the further they went, and the water wound around until they could no longer see where they’d come from. Hope had a bad feeling about whatever the hell Lizzie was planning, and it was only growing more difficult to ignore the further they paddled.

Eventually, the water opened up into a wide circle surrounded by trees. Lizzie nudged MG in the back. He stopped paddling, realizing that they had reached a dead end. He turned the boat around so that they could look back at Hope and Josie.

Hope stopped paddling as well, allowing the kayak to drift closer to Lizzie and MG’s of its own accord. She watched as Lizzie pulled the paddle out of MG’s hands from behind him. Lizzie stroked it through the water once as though she were testing it.

“I think our paddle is broken,” Lizzie whined dramatically. 

Josie’s brow furrowed. She was finding it difficult to understand how Lizzie could know this when she hadn’t even been the one paddling. MG seemed to give Lizzie a similar confused look over his shoulder, obviously not agreeing. 

Hope just stared at Lizzie with a skeptical frown. She didn’t know Lizzie’s game, but she certainly suspected that the blonde was up to something.

Lizzie sighed deeply, the sound striking Hope as obviously fake. “Hope, can I see yours to compare?” she requested politely.

Hope’s eyes narrowed, her frown deepening. “Uh,” she grunted. She couldn’t exactly think of a reason to say no. “I mean, I guess so.”

Hope awkwardly maneuvered their boat closer to Lizzie. She held up the paddle so that Lizzie could take a look at it. 

Hope was taken off guard when Lizzie pulled the paddle out of her hands, having thought that Lizzie would just do a visual comparison.

Lizzie wasted no time before pushing their boats apart and beginning to paddle out of the alcove like a madwoman. “MG, help me!” she shouted, shoving the other paddle into MG’s lap in one fluid, desperate motion.

Hope stared after Lizzie’s retreating kayak in complete shock, unable to speak.

“Lizzie!” Josie called out after them, her voice frantic. “What the hell are you doing?!”

MG tried to get control of the situation by shoving his paddle in the water to slow them down, but it was ineffective. Lizzie was simply too determined, her energetic strides completely overwhelming his efforts. “Uh, I’m sorry, guys!” he yelped apologetically. “I don’t think I can stop this!”

“We’ll be back in an hour,” Lizzie called out over her shoulder just before their kayak turned the corner and disappeared. “Don’t panic if you see a shark, Hope! Josie can handle it!”

Just like that, Lizzie and MG were gone. Hope and Josie sat still for a moment, both trying to process the fact that they were now paddle-less and stranded.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” Josie asked quietly, her voice now laced with shock.

Hope cleared her throat, the sound coming across as even more awkward in contrast to the sudden silence. “Probably,” she replied. She paused. “Eventually.”

Josie was still staring at the last place where Lizzie and MG were visible with a helpless pout. “I can’t believe she just did that,” she said.

Hope twisted slightly to make eye contact with Josie over her shoulder. She stared at her blankly for a moment before speaking. “I can,” she admitted, deadpan.

Josie stared back at Hope blankly, her lips still parted in shock. The absurdity of the situation suddenly hit her, and she couldn’t help but burst into a laugh. Hope grinned back at her automatically, unable to stop herself. 

Josie's laughter eventually died down. Hope glanced around the area and waved her hands erratically before she looked back into Josie’s eyes, exasperated. “What the hell are we supposed to do for an hour?” she complained.

Josie’s eyes sparkled and she shot Hope a mischievous smirk. She leaned closer. “I can think of a few things we could do,” she murmured with a wink.

Hope blushed heavily, her breath instantly hitching in her throat. She swallowed thickly but found herself unable to look away.

Josie giggled, the seductive look falling right off of her face. She reached out to brush Hope’s hair behind her ear, running her fingers through it gently. “You’re too easy,” she teased quietly, affection shining clear and uninhibited in her eyes. 

Hope rolled her eyes, pouting. Her blush only got worse. She twisted back around and looked at the trees lining the water to attempt to hide it, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “You’re mean,” she complained, but she couldn’t find it in herself to actually be mad. She only felt mortified.

Josie pushed Hope’s hair over her shoulder, baring the left side of her neck. She leaned forward and placed a gentle, loving kiss right behind Hope’s ear. Hope froze instantly at the touch, tensing like a bowstring. “I’m sorry, baby,” Josie purred. 

Hope tried to remember how to breathe properly, finding herself suddenly a bit lightheaded.

Josie noticed the tension in Hope’s shoulders with a frown. She scooted forward, wrapping her arms around Hope’s waist from behind and pulling Hope back into her chest.

Hope sighed happily, her eyes fluttering shut. She leaned back into Josie and relaxed. “I like that,” she admitted quietly, her embarrassment quickly forgotten. 

Josie planted another kiss on the juncture between Hope’s neck and shoulder. “Yeah?” she whispered against Hope’s skin with a smile.

“Mhm,” Hope hummed without opening her eyes. She allowed herself to get lost in the sensation – the warmth of Josie pressed up against her back; the sounds of the birds chirping and the gentle rocking of the kayak in the water. 

Hope couldn’t remember ever feeling more relaxed.

Josie broke through Hope’s meditative haze after allowing her to bask in it for a couple of minutes. “I want to see you as a wolf again,” she said softly. 

Hope didn’t open her eyes, her breathing deep and heavy like she might fall asleep. “Why?” she asked, her voice sounding distant and flighty to her own ears.

Josie trailed her hands up Hope’s back, pressing firmly into the muscles there. She squeezed when she reached Hope’s shoulders and Hope practically collapsed back into her with a pleased sigh.

Josie shrugged a little, even though Hope wasn’t looking at her. “I liked it. You were cute,” she explained. For once, Hope couldn’t find it in herself to be mad that she’d just been called cute. Josie wrapped her arms back around Hope’s waist again. “Will you show me again?”

To Hope, Josie’s voice sounded like it was being filtered through a thick fog. “I’d do pretty much anything if you asked me to,” Hope admitted absentmindedly, bringing her own hands to rest over Josie’s, which were now clasped just below her bellybutton.

Josie chuckled. Hope felt the vibrations of it against her back. “Anything?” Josie asked. Hope could hear the smirk in her voice.

Hope swallowed thickly. “I know you’re teasing me,” she muttered. “But, yes. Anything.”

Lizzie did, in fact, come back eventually. Hope tried not to feel resentful when Josie scooted away from her again after she heard MG paddling around the corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a whirlwind lmfao


	24. Falling

The next day, Hope found herself splayed out across her bed with her eyes closed, listening to music. 

Everything was falling into place for her. It turned out that Josie felt the same way that she did, and they were together now. 

It wasn’t only that, though – the Necromancer had been apprehended. The monsters were still on some kind of hiatus and Hope was growing used to that, even if she didn’t completely understand why. 

She felt peaceful and calm for the first time in a while. Things in her life rarely felt so still (mostly thanks to Lizzie), but now that she had some time to relax, she could fully appreciate it. She smiled to herself, basking in it.

A heavy weight suddenly landed on her stomach. She yelped and sat up, the wind knocked out of her with an _oof_. 

Hope saw that Lizzie was now hovering over her with her arms crossed, looking bored. Hope hadn’t even noticed that she’d come into the room. 

Hope pulled out her earbuds and stared up at Lizzie with wide, panicky eyes. “How’d you get in here?” she gasped, still taken off guard.

Lizzie shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Through the door,” she deadpanned. 

Hope frowned, her expression becoming guarded as she got a hold of herself. “What do you want, Lizzie?” she asked, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

Lizzie pointed at the mysterious blunt object that she had just assaulted Hope with, which had fallen on the bed beside her. Hope realized that it was the crystal she’d used to talk to a hologram of Landon on multiple occasions. 

“I stole it from Josie,” Lizzie explained without shame, clearly having no issue with being a thief. 

Lizzie looked at Hope expectantly, as though that explanation should be sufficient. Hope stared back at her with a displeased frown, raising her eyebrows when Lizzie didn’t further elaborate.

Lizzie sighed, like having to explain further was a great inconvenience to her. “It’s for you to practice your love confession,” she said slowly, as though she were talking to a child.

Hope sighed, looking back at the crystal with dread in her eyes. “Lizzie…,” she trailed off. She’d really been hoping that she wouldn’t have to deal with this today.

“I’m not kidding,” Lizzie insisted, grabbing the crystal and shoving it into Hope’s hands. “We eventually got there at the dock, but I’ve realized that it’s not a good indicator. Her presence makes you act all panicky and nonverbal.”

Hope sputtered, offended at the accusation, but Lizzie continued to speak before she could object.

“All I’m _saying_ ,” Lizzie continued, giving Hope a pointed look. “Is that you might have an easier time telling her how you feel someday if you rehearse it. It’ll give you a good sense of how she’d really react, and you won’t be freaked out about the consequences the whole time.”

As she processed Lizzie’s words, Hope’s brow furrowed. She was a bit taken aback. That was… smart, she thought to herself. She hadn’t expected that Lizzie would ever give her such sound advice. “Thank you, Lizzie,” Hope replied with sincerity, pleasantly surprised.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, completely sidestepping Hope’s gratitude. “Yeah, yeah,” she snarked. “Don’t sound so shocked. I can give good advice when I want to.”

Lizzie didn’t stick around, leaving the room before Hope could target her with any more sappiness. Hope laughed to herself when Lizzie let the door swing shut behind her on the way out.

Hope stared at the crystal for a long time, debating over whether or not to use it. For some reason, the thought of talking to holo-Josie was just as nerve-wracking as trying to muster up the courage to approach the siphoner in real life.

Eventually, Hope sat up straight and placed the crystal on the bed beside her. She was Hope Mikaelson, dammit. She beat the crap out of monsters on a daily basis. She could conquer this thing.

When holo-Josie manifested, Hope’s breath stuttered in her chest. She suddenly wasn’t so sure of whether or not she could conquer this thing. Josie was even beautiful as a hologram. 

“Hi,” Hope started, her voice bursting out alongside a breathy sigh. She cleared her throat, her gaze faltering as she tried to get her shit together. It was just a _hologram_ , for God’s sake.

Josie grinned goofily at her, her smile as warm and breath-taking as always. “Hey there,” she replied with a wink.

Hope felt herself reacting even though she knew that it was all just an illusion. Her heart started to pound in her chest, and she felt her cheeks burning.

The fact that she was reacting so strongly to a _hologram_ really took a toll on Hope’s pride. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath, looking away from holo-Josie and releasing a drawn-out exhale. This was beyond embarrassing, she thought to herself. Thank God no one was here to witness it.

Josie giggled, apparently pleased with the reaction. “Are you okay?” she asked playfully.

Hope bit her lip, looking back over at her. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Hope replied. “You just… God, you look just like her.”

Josie laughed. “I think that’s the point, sweetheart,” she said softly.

Hope’s lips parted, and for a long moment she just stared at Josie like she was admiring a work of art. She found it easier to do than usual, since she knew that this was fake. “You’re so pretty,” she finally blurted out, her cheeks reddening again as she realized what she’d said.

Josie’s eyes widened a little bit, and a soft blush rose to her cheeks. Hope cursed her subconscious for making this seem so _realistic_. “Thank you, Hope,” Josie replied after a moment, sounding touched. “So are you.”

Hope swallowed thickly, blushing darker at the compliment. “Thanks. I…,” she trailed off, her hands nervously fiddling with the bedsheets. “Lizzie wants me to confess my feelings,” she explained awkwardly.

Hope had expected Josie to tease her, or at least to give her that look – the one where her eyes sparkled, like she’d never seen something so adorable before. 

She was a bit surprised when Josie just stared back at her intensely, respectfully serious. “Go ahead,” Josie urged gently. She glanced down at the crystal on the bed, the corners of her lips quirking up into a small smile. “I can keep a secret.”

Hope cleared her throat, trying to brace herself to have this conversation. “I don’t really know how to start,” she admitted quietly. “It’s hard to talk to you. Or, to Josie, I mean.”

Josie waited patiently for Hope to continue, her only response an encouraging smile.

Hope shrugged awkwardly, staring down at the sheets. “I start tripping over my words,” she explained. “And I forget how to think.”

Josie smiled fondly. “I know,” she replied, her tone neutral and matter-of-fact. “You’re cute.”

Hope frowned. “Oh, come on,” she complained. “You, too? Real Josie calls me that enough.”

Josie chuckled, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Well, you _are_ ,” she emphasized, raising an eyebrow at Hope like she should just accept it. “You’re so reactive and soft. It’s surprising. It’s a whole new side of you.”

Hope couldn’t exactly object to that, so she just released a frustrated sigh. “You just make me feel so nervous,” she admitted quickly, biting her lip. Her gaze wavered slightly as Josie stared back at her. “I’ve never felt this way before.”

Josie cocked her head to the side curiously. “Never?” she prompted.

Hope felt something snap under the pressure, and she knew that she just couldn’t avoid talking about this anymore. “I loved Landon,” she began, her nerves outweighed by determination. “Of course I did. Part of me will always love him, in a way. But it was different.”

Josie gave her an encouraging nod, still looking at her expectantly. “How was it different?” she asked gently.

Hope took a moment to think, biting her lip again. Then, she looked back at Josie. She cleared her throat. “Landon felt safe,” Hope explained, an intense, serious glint in her eye. “I mean, he’s immortal. I didn’t have to worry about him dying on me.”

Hope glanced away, her eyes glazing over like she was trying to remember. “But then he started to get in the habit of leaving, anyway,” she continued, her voice a little resentful. “And I felt a little less safe with him every time.”

Hope ran a hand through her hair roughly, like the memory was upsetting to her. “And then, even _immortal_ started to have loopholes,” she went on. “And I started to realize that something had shifted. I was just staying with him because I was scared to take a risk. On you.”

Hope glanced over to find Josie still staring at her intently. Hope felt like she was being pulled toward her, mesmerized by the depth of her eyes and unable to look away.

Hope took in a deep, shaky breath to steady herself. “With Landon,” she started, her voice falling into a quiet murmur. “I felt in control with Landon. In control _of_ him, even. He idealized me. He had me up on a pedestal. He wasn’t even subtle about it. The whole time we were together, he was in disbelief that I’d ever want to be with him. He _never_ believed that I loved him. He didn’t feel worthy of it.” 

Hope sighed. “And I see now that it was unhealthy,” she admitted. “But at the time, I guess it felt like what I needed. He just seemed stable, like he’d be there if I needed to talk to someone, like there was no way he’d leave me for someone else. Everything about it felt _safe_.”

Josie spoke up for the first time in a while. “And you don’t feel safe with me?” she asked. Her voice wasn’t accusatory, but simply curious.

Hope looked at her, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times as she considered her response. “I mean, I _do_ ,” she replied, sounding a bit uncertain. “But, at the same time, I feel out of control. It’s disorienting... not in a bad way. It’s like I don’t mind you taking control because I trust you. It’s kind of like a rollercoaster.”

Hope’s eyes widened with surprise as she processed her own words. “Actually, it’s _just_ like that,” she said, her voice suddenly a bit excited, as if she’d had a revelation. Josie looked on with a smile as she continued to listen to Hope’s stream of consciousness. “It’s like the way you feel when you’re right before the drop of a rollercoaster, and you know that you’ll be completely out of control and falling in a second, and you know that your body was never designed to do that, but you just barely stop yourself from having a heart attack because you remind yourself that an engineer built this thing and that you’re very unlikely to die, because if it wasn’t safe they would’ve already been sued for all they’re worth,” Hope blurted out in one breath.

Josie’s lips parted in surprise. Hope could see the gears in her head turning as she attempted to process the run-on sentence. “Uh – wow,” she responded, not quite knowing what to say. She looked a little bit confused. "So, wait," she said slowly. "In this metaphor, I’m the engineer?”

Hope burst out laughing, feeling so unbelievably free and light after finally getting this confession off of her chest. “Yes, and you’re _so_ good at it,” she answered with a goofy grin. “And I trust you with my life.”

Hope reached out to grab Josie’s hand, only to have her own hand glitch right through it. “Oh, fuck,” she yelped, recoiling with surprise. She looked up at Josie with wide eyes. “I honestly forgot that you were a hologram,” she admitted, laughing at herself.

Josie laughed with her, staring back at her fondly. “Maybe you should have this talk with the _real_ Josie,” holo-Josie suggested, giving Hope a meaningful look. Hope had the thought that it was really bizarre that a hologram’s eyes could look so deep. “Because I think that she’d _really_ like to know that she makes you feel this way.”

Hope’s stomach flipped, but she couldn’t deny how much freer she felt now that she’d said all of that out loud. “Yeah,” she replied, swallowing thickly. “Yeah, you’re right. I should talk to her.”

As soon as the words left Hope’s mouth, there was a knock on the door. Hope’s eyes darted toward in its direction, alarmed. The hologram of Josie disappeared as soon as Hope stood up from the bed, and she grabbed the crystal to carefully place it on her bedside table.

Hope swung open the door to find Lizzie on the other side. Hope’s face fell, disappointed that it wasn’t Josie, though she hadn't really expected it to be.

“Did you use the crystal yet?” Lizzie asked in lieu of a greeting.

Hope frowned, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Yes,” she answered slowly. “Why?”

Lizzie wasted no time and barged right into the room. Hope made a disgruntled noise of protest, but it went unnoticed by Lizzie, who was charging straight toward Hope’s closet.

Hope scowled, shutting the door and turning around to watch Lizzie. “What the hell are you doing?” she snapped as Lizzie opened her closet door.

Lizzie didn’t answer her. She simply bent down to pick up a stuffed dog that was apparently sitting in Hope’s closet, unbeknownst to Hope herself.

Hope’s scowl morphed into the most confused look that had ever graced her features. “Um, what is that?” she asked as Lizzie spun around with the stuffed dog in her hands.

Lizzie casually ripped off the stuffed dog’s head. Hope flinched, her eyes widening even more. Lizzie stuck her hand into the stuffed dog’s fluff and pulled out a recorder.

Hope’s jaw immediately dropped, her eyes widening to such an extent that it may have been painful. She was horrified. “You were _recording me?!”_ she practically yelled, staring at Lizzie in complete shock.

“Yes,” Lizzie replied nonchalantly. She pressed a button on the recorder to stop it.

Hope recovered from her shock. “Give me that!” she said sharply. She reached out to grab the recorder. She grabbed the stuffed dog’s body for good measure, staring at it, torn between confusion and disbelief. She looked up at Lizzie with a glare. “If it was hidden in the closet, why’d you have to disguise it as a dog, too?” she growled.

Lizzie raised an unimpressed eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest. “I could ask you the same thing,” she drawled sarcastically.

“I’m not _in the closet_ , Lizzie,” Hope hissed furiously. “I’m just a very _private_ person, which is why it’s pretty messed up of you to record me without my knowledge!”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Oh, _relax_ ,” she drawled. “It’s not like I was going to listen to it without your permission.”

Hope did, against her better judgement, slightly relax at this. For a moment, the two witches found themselves in a staring contest.

Lizzie once again raised an eyebrow. “So, do I have your permission?”

“Absolutely not!” Hope snapped, her glare coming back full force.

“Oh, _come on_ ,” Lizzie whined, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. “Well, can we at least give it to Josie, then?”

Hope’s eyes widened with horror. “ABSOLUTELY NOT!” she yelled, seething at even the thought of it.

Lizzie flinched at Hope’s fury, crossing her arms over her chest once again. “Jesus,” she grunted with a scowl. “Why the hell are you so defensive about it? What did you say?”

Hope gulped nervously, a blush on her face. “ _Nothing_ ,” she snapped. “No one is ever listening to this tape,” she said sternly, waving the tape in the air for emphasis.

Lizzie scoffed. “Alright, _fine_ ,” she agreed reluctantly, not sounding at all happy about it. “Calm down. If you won’t give it to Josie, _at least_ listen to it yourself a few times so that you can recite it to her.”

Hope scowled. “Don’t tell me what to do,” she grumbled, walking toward her bed with a huff.

Lizzie rolled her eyes but decided to drop it and change the subject. “I’m going to MG’s room tonight,” she said.

Hope just stared at her, not understanding why she was being informed of this. She raised an eyebrow and waved her hand to urge Lizzie to explain further.

“So, Josie will be alone in our room,” Lizzie elaborated, her eyebrow raising as well. “Prime time for you to go over there and say whatever you just said to her crystal doppelganger.”

Hope blushed heavily, looking away again. “No,” she replied simply, completely fed up with the conversation.

Lizzie glared. “Hope,” she said sternly. “Don’t make me send her here.”

Hope looked at Lizzie and was displeased to realize that her threat was serious. “ _Fine_ ,” she hissed with an irritated glare. “I’ll go talk to her. But don’t expect me to _confess my feelings_ or whatever.”

Lizzie smirked, pleased to have gotten her way. She walked over to the door, opening it and stepping out into the hallway with a bounce in her step. “Use protection,” she mockingly called over her shoulder.

“I hate you,” Hope snapped, slamming the door in her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯   
> Follow me on twitter @Th3Nutcase


	25. Protecting

Hope stared at her door for about a half hour after Lizzie left, attempting to muster up the courage to walk over to Josie’s room.

She eventually convinced herself to just do it, the way one would jump into a pool after hesitating for too long. She hopped out of bed, walking toward the door. 

Hope paused, glancing at the tape recorder that was sitting at the bottom of her bed. She debated for a moment before picking it up and shoving it under a stack of paper in her desk drawer. 

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to delete the recording yet, but the last thing she needed was for Lizzie to break into her room again and get a hold of it.

Hope miraculously managed to make it out of her room and over to Josie’s room without panicking and turning back around. When she got there, though, she hesitated before knocking on the door.

Hope suddenly had the thought (excuse) that she shouldn’t go in empty handed. Maybe Josie was hungry, after all.

She decided to bring Josie a cookie. While she walked down the hall toward the kitchen, she attempted to convince herself that the decision had nothing to do with the butterflies in her stomach.

She couldn’t figure out why she felt so nervous. It was just Josie. Hope didn’t _have_ to recite her rollercoaster rant, even if Lizzie had ordered her to.

Josie just seemed to have a nerve-wracking effect on her in general. Hope wondered if that would ever change.

At least a cookie would break the awkward tension of randomly showing up, Hope thought to herself.

Hope managed to make it into the kitchen without incident. 

Alaric hid the cookie jar behind a cloaking spell. It was a bit much, in Hope’s opinion. He could easily just keep the jar inside of his office if he wanted to stop students from ransacking it.

She was thankful for it now, though. She was also thankful that she’d managed to stumble upon it a few years prior. 

She pulled the cookie jar out of what appeared to be a solid wall. Soon, she was walking back toward Josie’s room with two cookies wrapped up in a napkin. 

Hope had to walk by Alaric’s office on the way back. She tried to be as quick and inconspicuous as possible. She didn’t know if he was still in there, but she really didn’t want him to suddenly burst out into the hall and catch her red-handed.

The door to Alaric’s office did suddenly burst open the moment Hope passed by it, however, and Hope felt her stomach drop. She spun around, expecting to have to explain where the cookies came from. She was (unpleasantly) surprised to see Alyssa Chang.

Hope froze, her brow furrowed with confusion. For a moment she just stared blankly at Alyssa, taken aback. 

Alyssa shut the door behind her and turned to walk down the hall, but she scowled as soon as she noticed that Hope was in the way.

“Alyssa?” Hope called out, her voice confused and a little bit defensive. “What are you doing here?”

Alyssa’s scowl got more intense, and she came to a halt a few feet in front of Hope. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I live here,” she spat.

Hope flinched at Alyssa’s tone. “I mean, since when are you out of the dungeon?” Hope clarified, trying to keep her tone neutral. “Is your link to the Necromancer severed?”

Alyssa sent Hope a murderous glare. She apparently wasn’t over the whole Hope-trying-to-kill-her thing. “Wouldn’t _you_ like to know,” she hissed furiously.

Already, Hope felt her frustration beginning to build. Alyssa was either still connected to the Necromancer or she wasn’t; it was a simple yes-or-no question. She didn’t have to make things so difficult. “I actually _would_ like to know,” Hope replied irritably, crossing her own arms over her chest to mimic Alyssa’s stance. “I’m not going to be very pleased if you end up putting Josie in danger again.”

Alyssa raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as a challenge. “ _Oh no_ , what are you going to do?” she drawled sarcastically. “Try to strangle me again?”

Hope’s gaze faltered and she cleared her throat awkwardly. Pinning Alyssa to the wall by the throat wasn’t exactly her finest moment. She’d been sort of naively hoping that they would just put it behind them.

Alyssa rolled her eyes and scoffed when Hope failed to respond. “Don’t worry, Hope,” she spat. “We both know Dr. Saltzman would’ve kept me down there for the rest of my life if I was still a threat to your girlfriend.” 

Hope flinched at the world _girlfriend_ , swallowing thickly. She decided to just ignore it, her heart stuttering weirdly at the thought of claiming that Josie _wasn’t_ her girlfriend. “He let you out of the dungeon?” she asked instead, her voice curt and to-the-point.

Alyssa gestured vaguely over her shoulder at the door to Alaric’s office. “Clearly,” she said.

Hope frowned, and her brow furrowed with confusion. She glanced away, staring at the wall with a puzzled look on her face. Why wouldn’t Dr. Saltzman tell her?

Alyssa read the look on her face and seemed to be rather pleased about the fact that Hope was so confused. “Uh oh,” she started dangerously, her eyes narrowing. “Oh, he didn’t even tell you, did he?”

Hope looked back at her, her eyes quickly becoming guarded in response to Alyssa’s tone. 

“Looks like _someone’s_ no longer the favorite,” Alyssa mocked, taking a step closer. “I guess you just aren’t useful enough to be kept in the loop now that our little monster problem is solved.” 

Hope couldn’t stop her face from falling. She felt the self-doubt trickling in around her defenses. 

Hope remembered herself in a moment and put her poker face back on, but the damage was already done. Alyssa smelled blood in the water, taking another threatening step forward. “How will you fill the void now that your Daddy’s understudy doesn’t love you?” she asked, her voice patronizing and cruel.

Hope’s whole body tensed, but she otherwise didn’t react. She was eerily still and expressionless. The only indication that she’d heard Alyssa at all was a brief flash of sadness that flickered through her eyes before they glazed over. 

It was enough to encourage Alyssa to continue. “Or are you finally going to face the fact that you don’t have one?” she dropped, her voice lilting downward like she’d finally reached a punchline.

In the blink of an eye, a fist collided with Alyssa’s face. She took the hit with a panicked yelp, recoiling backward and nearly tripping over herself. 

Hope’s eyes widened with shock. For a split second, she was disoriented enough to worry that she might’ve been the one doing the punching. Then, she registered the fact that they were no longer alone. Josie was already pulling her arm back and moving to punch Alyssa again by the time Hope jumped into action.

“Josie, _stop!”_ Hope blurted out frantically, stepping between them and catching Josie’s fist in her hand before it could make contact with Alyssa’s face once again. 

Josie didn’t even look at her. She was glaring at Alyssa with a fury that Hope had never seen in her before. She even struggled for a moment, trying to wriggle out of Hope’s grip when Hope slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her a few steps back.

Alyssa was busy clutching at her eye, apparently unable to comprehend the fact that she’d just been punched. She kept pulling her hand away from her eye and staring at it, as though she expected to be bleeding. The corner of her eye was red and swollen already – Hope knew that it would form into a nasty bruise soon.

After a moment of tense silence, Alyssa whirled on Josie. “Why the hell would you _punch me_ , you psycho bitch?!” she shouted, her anger slightly tapered by the shock. 

Josie seethed, shaking with fury. Her chest was heaving with ragged breaths. “I’ll do more than _punch you_ if you ever speak about Hope’s father again,” she hissed dangerously through her teeth.

Alyssa stared at Josie like she was out of her mind. Josie stared right back at her. Hope felt grateful to not be on the receiving end of Josie’s glare, which looked like it could probably melt metal. 

Josie didn’t seem to be calming down whatsoever – in fact, Alyssa’s horrified expression seemed to only be making things worse. Hope felt a wave of panic when Josie cupped her hands together, a fireball manifesting in the space between them.

“Josie, look at me right now,” Hope commanded. She let go of Josie’s waist and reached out to caress her jaw, forcing her to turn her head.

Josie reluctantly obeyed, and her glare softened the moment they made eye contact. 

Hope tried desperately to focus on diffusing the situation before she allowed herself to think about how pretty Josie looked when she was on a rampage. “Stop,” Hope whispered firmly into the space between them. 

For a moment, Josie looked conflicted. Hope worried that she might not cooperate.

Then, Josie took a step back, the fireball dissipating into thin air. She sent one last smoldering glare at Alyssa before she turned around to storm down the hallway.

Hope glanced back at Alyssa, too, just to make sure she wasn’t bleeding out or anything. Alyssa still looked more stunned than angry.

Hope frowned. She could hear Josie’s fast, angry footsteps getting further away from them, so she turned away from Alyssa and jogged to catch up with her. She heard Alyssa release an exasperated noise behind her, probably infuriated that no one was sticking around to answer for Josie’s crimes.

Josie charged around a corner, but Hope immediately grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into an empty classroom in one fluid movement. Hope slammed the door behind them a little bit too hard. 

Josie followed the momentum of being swept into the room and took a few steps further into the room, spinning around and leaning back against a desk. She sucked in a deep breath, still trying to get her anger under control.

There was a long pause before Hope turned away from the door. She was very still, and she seemed to be trying to process everything that had just happened. She huffed out a sigh and roughly ran a hand through her hair. She took a moment to rub at the tension in back of her neck. 

Hope finally turned around and looked at Josie, her expression unreadable. She carelessly dropped the cookies onto a desk. Josie only spared them one confused glance before staring back at Hope. The silence was beginning to make Josie feel a bit nervous, and that was difficult to manage on top of the residual anger that she was still contending with. 

Hope licked her lips before she spoke. “What the hell was that?” she asked, her voice strained and controlled enough that Josie could tell that she was angry herself.

Josie’s angry frown was still firmly in place. “She deserved it,” she spat petulantly with a shrug, crossing her arms over her chest and glancing away.

Hope scoffed, and Josie realized that she was in trouble. “She _deserves_ a lot of things, Josie,” Hope snapped, her anger now leaking into her voice. Josie flinched. “That doesn’t mean you just _give_ them to her.”

Josie’s gaze fixated back on Hope, her eyes narrowing defensively. “I wasn’t going to just sit there and do nothing while she tried to play with you like that!” she exclaimed with a scowl, her voice raising as her anger flared up again from the memory.

Hope clenched her jaw from the frustration. “You told _me_ not to fight with Alyssa,” she reminded Josie, her nostrils flaring with a sharp inhale. “You said that she doesn’t have limits, that you don’t want me getting hurt,” she continued, taking a sharp step forward.

Josie’s brow furrowed. Hope was _really_ angry, she realized. In fact, Josie couldn’t recall a time Hope had ever been this angry with her. Josie was stubborn, though, so she pushed herself off of the desk she was leaning on, her chest puffing out defensively. “So?” Josie prompted.

This was not the correct thing to say. Hope released a dark chuckle, and Josie thought she saw flames beginning to flicker in her eyes. “ _So_ ,” she started dangerously, taking another step closer. “What, that doesn’t apply to you? You’re just going to get yourself hurt and I’m supposed to be okay with that?”

Josie frowned. “Hope –”

“No!” Hope growled, her glare turning frantic. “I don’t care if she deserves it. I’m not letting you get in a war with Alyssa, Josie! I almost lost you last time!”

Josie gaped at Hope in shock. Hope was seething, but there was some kind of panic bubbling underneath her anger.

Josie dropped her arms to her sides, her expression softening. She took a step closer to Hope, reaching out as if she intended to comfort her. “ _Hope_ –”

Josie was interrupted once again when the door flung open. Josie took a step back like she’d been burned, her arms dropping to her sides again. 

The both spun around to stare at the intruder, panicked. There was a deafening silence as they processed the fact that Lizzie had just stormed into the room. 

Hope felt like she’d just been hit by a tsunami of anxiety, and she was still shaking from the aftershocks of how angry she’d felt moments prior, as well.

Lizzie stared at them, gaping in shock. “Are you two _fighting?!”_ she exclaimed dramatically.

Hope and Josie glanced at each other warily, neither of them daring to answer. 

Lizzie scoffed, now looking furious herself. “Nope,” she snapped with a rough shake of her head. “ _Not_ on my watch. This is the opposite direction of where your friendship needs to go.”

Josie frowned again, confused at the comment. Hope’s gaze darted frantically from one twin to the other, her eyes full of panic. She had no time to reply before Lizzie was dragging her by the wrist across the room. 

Lizzie opened a closet, and before Hope knew it, she was being pushed inside. She sputtered in protest, but Lizzie didn’t acknowledge that. “Stay,” Lizzie commanded, holding out a hand in front of her like she was giving a command to a dog.

Lizzie left Hope standing in the closet, too dumbstruck to move. She charged across the room and grabbed Josie by the wrist, dragging her to the closet and shoving her inside as well despite her protests.

Both Josie and Hope stared at Lizzie with shocked expressions on their faces. They watched as Lizzie said the incantation for a boundary spell in the doorway, paralyzed with confusion.

Hope snapped out of her stupor first. “Lizzie, what the hell are you doing?!” she shouted as the door was slammed in her face.

Hope and Josie heard Lizzie’s voice sound from the other side of the door. “You two are going into this closet,” she began, her voice determined. “And you aren’t coming out until you love each other again.”

Josie scoffed, in total disbelief. “I can just siphon away the boundary spell, you know,” she called through the door, her voice dripping with irritation.

Instead of a response, Hope and Josie only heard a brief bout of contemplative silence. The silence was soon broken by loud, unnatural noises that sounded like the harsh screech of metal against metal. Hope and Josie stared at each other, confused as all hell. 

The sounds ceased after about a minute. “Good luck siphoning away the desks I just stacked in front of the door out here,” Lizzie’s sarcastic voice called through the door. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Hope and Josie were left in silence once again after they listened to Lizzie stomp away, slamming the classroom’s door behind her on the way out. They remained silent for a long, awkward moment, each of them paralyzed with shock and stealing subtle glances at the other.

Josie eventually spoke. “Why did my sister just lock us in a closet?” she asked, sounding like she was either asking herself or asking God.

Hope snapped out of her stupor at the sound of Josie’s voice. She cleared her throat, remembering that she was still angry and folding her arms across her chest. “Why did you punch Alyssa in the face?” she asked irritably, sounding a bit childish.

Josie sighed with frustration, glancing at Hope out of the corner of her eye. She had sort of forgotten that they had been arguing. “I punched Alyssa in the face because Alyssa hurt your feelings, Hope,” Josie explained simply as she turned to face Hope, her tone neutral and matter of fact.

The only light in the closet was coming through the crack of the door. It painted a vertical line over Hope’s cheek, the glow of it blending artfully with the shadows. Josie tried not to get too distracted by how beautiful it made her look. 

Hope frowned. She seemed far less angry now, but she was obviously still frustrated. “Well, I don’t want you to put yourself in danger just to protect my _feelings_ , Josie,” she retorted, giving Josie a pointed look to try to urge her to understand.

Josie didn’t like that request at all. She scowled, propping her hands on her hips. “Oh, so I’m not allowed to put myself in danger to protect you even though you put yourself in danger to protect me?”

Hope released a frustrated huff, shaking her head. “The only reason I do that is because I _never_ want you to get hurt,” she replied sternly, as though it should be obvious. 

Josie’s eyes narrowed like she was offended. “Well, _I_ don’t want _you_ to get hurt,” she said defiantly.

Hope scoffed. “It’s not the same!” she blurted out, waving a hand in the air. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself. “It’s not like Alyssa was about to kill me. She was just saying mean things.”

Josie glared, liking _that_ response even less than the last one. “Hope, she has _no right_ to say things like that to you,” she growled, furious that Hope was trying to minimize it.

Hope shrugged, her gaze faltering. She shifted on her feet uncomfortably, not liking where the conversation was headed. “They’re just words. I can handle it,” she mumbled to herself.

Josie took a step even closer to Hope despite the fact that the closet already forced them to be in close proximity. “Did it hurt?” she asked, sounding a lot like she already knew the answer.

Hope remained silent, refusing to make eye contact. 

“Mhm,” Josie hummed, as if she wasn’t surprised by the silence whatsoever. “That’s what I thought.”

Hope frowned, unhappy with her inability to just lie and claim it didn’t hurt.

Josie stepped forward once again. She reached out to caress Hope’s cheek and guided her to make eye contact, much in the same way that Hope had done to diffuse the situation earlier. 

“Listen to me, Hope Mikaelson,” Josie murmured, her gaze soft and affectionate. “You might not need me to maul someone for you, but I want to protect you just as much as you want to protect me.”

Hope swallowed thickly at this, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She wondered how Josie could get her anger to fade away so easily. She scanned over Josie’s expression, trying to remember a time when anyone had looked at her with so much love.

“I know that it isn’t easy for you to trust people with your feelings. But you trust me with them, and I take that _very_ seriously,” Josie said sincerely, glancing down for a moment to gently brush her thumb across Hope’s cheekbone. She met Hope’s gaze again, her eyes serious and determined. “I’ll defend them if you can’t. I’m not going to let anyone mess with your head.”

Hope stared at Josie intensely, her gaze flickering from one of Josie’s eyes to the other as she attempted to process her words. She felt something constrict tightly in her chest, like her heart had suddenly been transformed into a tightly coiled spring.

Then, it snapped. She surged forward, pinning Josie roughly against the door. Josie let out a surprised yelp, taken off guard. It was quickly silenced when Hope crashed their lips together.

Josie sucked in a sharp breath through her nose. She only hesitated for a moment before kissing back enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around Hope’s neck and arching up into her. 

Hope felt completely out of control, her heart beating hard like it was about to pound out of her chest. She pulled back for just a moment, her lips hovering only millimeters away from Josie’s while she sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m sorry I got so mad,” she said in an exhale, her words hurried and frantic, like she couldn’t wait to stop talking.

“I’m sorry I was so reckless,” Josie instantly gasped in reply. The apology had barely escaped Josie’s lips before Hope covered them with her own again. Hope attempted to channel everything she was feeling into the kiss, even though she didn’t think it was possible.

Hope only pulled back when the need for air became too much for her. It seemed that Josie was having the same problem; her chest was shuddering to pull in heavy breaths. “I can’t imagine fighting with you about anything else,” Josie admitted.

Hope only hummed in agreement. Josie’s disheveled state was making it very difficult for her to calm herself down, to the point where she simply decided not to. She wisely opted not to smother Josie to death, instead dipping down to her neck.

Josie’s breath hitched sharply in her throat when Hope wrapped her lips around a particularly sensitive spot on her neck, her exhale replaced with a strangled whimper. Hope felt a rough, involuntary growl burst out of her throat in response.

Josie clutched desperately at Hope’s shoulders, writhing under the attention. “Someone’s getting bold,” she whispered shakily, sounding _very_ pleased about it.

Hope pawed at Josie’s hips and pushed her back against the door with a thump. Her mind was apparently completely devoid of language all of a sudden.

Josie let out a pleased whine to encourage her, and, for Hope, time suddenly came to a near halt. Hope grabbed Josie’s hands to pin them against the wall, her movements slowing down. She opened her mouth and her lips curled back, her teeth lightly grazing over Josie’s neck. She hovered there for a long moment while Josie did nothing but breathe raggedly beneath her. 

Hope jerked back suddenly, looking disoriented like she had just become aware of what she was doing. When they made eye contact, Josie was surprised to see that Hope’s pupils were fully dilated and only bounded by a thin ring of gold.

As soon as she registered the surprise on Josie’s face, Hope practically launched herself backward and pressed herself tightly against the opposite wall. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, the shock showing clearly on her face. “I…I’m sorry,” she finally said, shutting her eyes tightly like she was trying to hide them. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Josie frowned, her brow furrowing with confusion. “Don’t be sorry,” she said with a shrug, her voice still breathless and ragged. “You can show me that part of you. I like it.”

Hope’s eyes blinked open, fading back to blue. “Y-you like it?” she echoed, confused.

Josie immediately stepped closer, grabbing Hope’s hand to intertwine their fingers. “Of course I do. There’s no part of you I don’t like, baby,” she murmured softly.

Hope frowned, blushing at the statement but not quite allowing herself to believe it. “I just don’t want to hurt you,” she muttered under her breath.

Josie couldn’t help but let out a short laugh at that. “You wouldn’t,” she said, as if the thought of Hope hurting her was ridiculous.

Hope stared at her, not fully understanding why Josie had so much trust in her. “How do you know that?” she asked quietly. She looked away, ashamed. “I think I almost bit you.”

Josie bit her lip for a moment, thinking. “I really don’t think you were going to bite me, Hope,” she murmured. “It seemed more like you were just…” she trailed off, blushing herself. “Well, I don’t know. Pointing out that you could have bitten me if you wanted to?” 

Hope pouted, her eyes darting back up to meet Josie's. “Well, that’s even worse,” she replied miserably.

Josie shook her head and shrugged. “It isn’t,” she said simply. “I think you were just, like... asserting dominance or something.”

Hope recoiled with surprise at the suggestion, but some part of her knew that Josie was right. Her pout intensified. “But I don’t _want_ to dominate you,” she claimed vehemently.

Josie chuckled, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. “Are you sure about that?”

Hope’s eyes widened and she blushed heavily, feeling called out.

Josie laughed at her expression. “Relax, Hope,” she teased. “It’s fine if you do.”

Hope didn't reply for a moment, shifting uncomfortably on her feet. “Okay,” she eventually grunted in reply, trying very hard to avoid eye contact.

She really wished that Lizzie would come back already. She felt the need to go hide in her room and process her mortification alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This turned into the longest chapter yet, apparently


	26. Howling

Hope’s brain began to work shortly after the whirlwind of her emotions passed. She was no longer angry (or the myriad of other emotions she’d felt while making out with Josie). She was just left feeling slightly embarrassed.

Hope’s embarrassment wasn’t helped by the fact that Josie wouldn’t stop staring at her with that annoying, smug (sexy) smirk on her face. It encouraged Hope to glance around the closet and frantically try to figure out a way to escape.

This led Hope to realize that she’d probably be strong enough to push the door open despite the desks if Josie could siphon down the boundary spell. Hope proposed this idea to Josie, and then she watched as the closet was lit up from the red-orange glow of Josie’s hands. 

Hope suddenly realized that this had at some point become her favorite color. She absentmindedly wondered how deep this crush ran if it had managed to shift something as basic as her favorite color without her even noticing. She didn’t allow herself to ponder over it for long, and instead distracted herself by plowing into the door like a football player.

The door surprisingly put up little resistance despite the fact that Lizzie had neatly stacked seven desks behind it. The desks were really more mildly inconvenient than anything else, as it turned out. 

Hope couldn’t bring herself to be mad about it, though. She couldn’t exactly complain about what had happened in the closet.

Hope squeezed through the crack in the door and back into the classroom. She immediately walked over to the desk that she had placed the cookies on earlier. 

She was annoyed to see that there was now only one cookie wrapped up in the napkin. Lizzie had apparently stolen the other one on her way out.

Hope turned back to look at Josie, who was emerging from the closet and rubbing at her eyes to try to get them to adjust to the light. Like a reflex, the word ‘ _pretty_ ’ resounded in Hope’s head so violently that Hope blinked in surprise the moment she processed it. 

Hope blushed. She was literally the most complicated creature on earth. Why did her mind reduce to a caveman’s every time Josie walked into a room?

When Josie opened her eyes, they were already staring right back at Hope. Josie smiled sweetly at her, almost as if she had heard the thought herself.

Hope gulped nervously and held the remaining cookie out in front of her, unable to think of any other way to communicate. “Here,” she said simply.

Josie stared at the cookie with a confused frown, her head cocking to the side like a puppy’s. ‘ _Cute!’_ Hope’s mind blurted out so frantically that she almost flinched.

Hope honestly hated herself sometimes.

Josie raised an eyebrow. Her expression practically screamed, _why are you offering this to me?_ Hope abruptly realized that the telepathy thing they had going on could be a little bit creepy sometimes.

Hope cleared her throat, a little bit embarrassed. “I, uh,” she started unsteadily, shifting on her feet and glancing away. “Well, I was on my way to bring this to you before… all of that happened.”

Josie’s eyes widened and she stared down at the cookie again, surprised. “Really?” she asked, a light blush rising to her cheeks. She made eye contact again, fighting back a shy smile. “I was on my way to the kitchen to get _you_ something,” she admitted quietly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Hope’s lips parted with surprise, her eyes widening. Her whole face softened. “Oh,” she replied dumbly, feeling her heart skip a beat in response to the way Josie was staring at her.

Josie took a few steps closer and reached out, her fingers brushing up against Hope’s as she took the cookie. 

Hope gave the cookie a longing look as it was taken from her. She really wished that Lizzie hadn’t taken the second one. She’d abstain from sugar for the rest of her life if it meant that Josie would continue to smile, though.

“Thank you,” Josie said, radiating affection. When Hope gave the cookie one last glance and licked her lips, Josie seemed to read the look on her face. It made her giggle. Josie didn’t hesitate to split the cookie and offer half of it to Hope. “Here,” she murmured.

‘ _I love her_ ,’ Hope thought as she accepted her half of the cookie. Hope practically choked on air at the thought. It was the first time she’d truly admitted that to herself. 

Josie raised an eyebrow. “You okay?” she asked in response to Hope’s panicked expression.

Hope blinked, swallowing thickly. “Uh, yeah,” she replied, her voice more high-pitched than usual. “Come on, let’s get out of here before Lizzie comes back.”

Josie mercifully dropped the topic and allowed Hope to lead her out into the hall. Hope looked back and forth down the hallway as though she were crossing the street, praying that Lizzie wasn’t about to ambush them.

Josie stepped boldly into Hope’s line of sight, trying to calm Hope’s nerves with a lazy smile. It had the opposite effect and just wound up making Hope feel even more flustered. “Want to come down to the dock with me?” Josie asked with a playful wink.

Hope blinked, surprised. “Yeah, okay,” she agreed after a moment, biting her lip to punctuate the statement.

Josie beamed at her with excitement. It was getting late and no one was around, so Josie grabbed Hope’s free hand with a secretive smile. 

Hope allowed herself to be dragged out of the school, focused only on the overwhelming softness and warmth of Josie’s hand in her own. She ate her half of the cookie on the way.

It was already beginning to get dark out when they made it outside – the sky was painted a whole variety of colors. Josie smiled when they jogged through the woods and narrowly outpaced the sunset. She sat at the edge of the dock, dangling her legs over the water and swinging them back and forth. She gestured to the spot beside her, her gaze not breaking away from the sky.

The sky was pretty. So was Josie, Hope thought to herself. Hope really wanted to draw her.

Josie ate her half of the cookie in a few bites, brushed her hands on her pants and reached out to hold Hope’s hand like it was second nature. The action made Hope’s heart flutter in her chest, and she found herself staring more at Josie than at the sunset. Josie didn’t notice, fully immersed in the view. They sat in silence for a while, until the sunlight gave way to the stars.

“The moon’s pretty,” Josie eventually murmured to break the silence.

Hope jumped, not having expected her to speak. “Oh. Yeah,” she agreed when she processed the comment, glancing up at the crescent moon. It was reflecting off of the water in a way that was, indeed, pretty.

Josie glanced at Hope out of the corner of her eye, pursing her lips in contemplation. “You should wolf out,” she suggested, her voice deceptively casual.

Hope released a surprised sound that fell somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle. She turned her head away from the moon to look back at Josie, who had now shifted to look at Hope directly.

“Come on, please?” Josie begged with a pathetic pout. Her voice was dangerously bordering on a whine when she spoke again. “You said you’d show me your wolf again.”

Hope frowned, realizing that Josie was serious. “Well, yeah, but… you made fun of me last time,” she grumbled under her breath, staring down at her lap.

Josie rolled her eyes playfully. “I didn’t _make fun_ of you, I told you that you were cute,” she argued, gently squeezing Hope’s hand as an attempt to make her more comfortable. “Which was objectively true, and a compliment.”

Hope sighed, her frown not fully receding. “I don’t know, Jo,” she muttered hesitantly. “Do you think it’s safe? I mean, I can’t really control myself in that form. What if it’s dangerous?”

Josie instantly scoffed, and Hope’s gaze darted up in surprise. “Again, I don’t think you’ll hurt me,” Josie claimed, clearly finding the idea of it ridiculous. “You licked my face last time.”

Hope scowled. “Stop bringing that up, it’s fucking embarrassing,” she mumbled under her breath with a bit of resentment, but mostly toward herself. 

Josie’s eyes suddenly widened, her mouth twisting into an exaggerated pout. “Hope, please?” she begged shamelessly.

Hope’s scowl deepened. Right away, she knew that she didn’t stand a chance, and she thought that it was extremely unfair. “Okay, _fine_ ,” she groaned miserably after a pause, releasing Josie’s hand and rising to her feet.

Josie’s smile made Hope immediately forget how unfair this was. Josie beamed up at her, her eyes sparkling. She continued to watch Hope expectantly. Hope couldn’t help but give her a small smile back.

After a moment, Hope cleared her throat. “Uh,” she grunted, feeling a bit awkward under Josie’s gaze. Hope pointed to a nearby tree. “I’m just going to go change behind that tree over there.”

Josie frowned, tilting her head to the side like she didn’t understand why that was necessary. “You mean you’re not gonna let me watch?” she asked, sounding extremely disappointed.

Hope raised a surprised eyebrow, letting out a dark chuckle. “What, you want to watch all the bones in my body break?” she asked sarcastically.

Josie smirked, a mischievous glint sparking in her eye like she had Hope right where she wanted her. “No, but I wouldn’t mind watching you take off your clothes,” Josie replied simply, as though she were commenting on the weather.

Hope’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head, and she tried her best not to choke on air. “W-What?” she stuttered, feeling her chest flood with a familiar panic. “I mean, I…,” she trailed off awkwardly, gaping like a mounted fish.

Before she knew it, Josie was laughing at her. 

Hope scowled, turning away before Josie could see her blush. “Shut up, Saltzman,” she grumbled miserably as she stomped toward the tree.

Hope made quick work of transitioning, apparently eager to get back to the dock. It took only a few minutes before she emerged from behind the tree again as a massive, white wolf.

Josie beamed at wolf-Hope as she trotted over. “Look at you,” she cooed with an uncontrollable grin. “You’re adorable.”

Wolf-Hope let out a half-hearted, disgruntled growl in response to this, but she moved to sit down beside Josie on the dock anyway. She sat with her back to the water, her ears quirked up toward the woods behind them, scanning the perimeter of the dock like she was on guard duty.

Josie simply couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Wolf-Hope was even more majestic when Josie wasn’t distracted by the adrenaline of almost being murdered. 

After admiring wolf-Hope for a long moment, Josie sat up, kneeling beside her on the dock. Wolf-Hope looked over at the movement, her ear twitching. Her golden eyes studied Josie intently.

Josie thought that she could still see the same affection she was used to seeing in Hope’s eyes when she was in human form. “You’re gorgeous,” Josie marveled in awe, staring at Hope much in the way that she had earlier stared at the sunset. 

At first, wolf-Hope only stared back in reply. Then, she threw her head back and released a loud, shameless howl.

Josie grinned, her eyes sparkling with joy. When wolf-Hope finished howling and looked back at her, she lifted a tentative hand, trying to avoid moving too quickly. Wolf-Hope saw her hesitation and attempted to assuage it. She leaned forward to nuzzle up to Josie’s hand, allowing it to run through the fur at the back of her neck.

“You’re so soft,” Josie murmured, mostly to herself. She honestly wasn’t sure of whether or not Hope could understand language in this state, anyway.

Wolf-Hope shifted to stand, but then she only took a few steps closer. She laid down on the dock, placing her head in Josie’s lap. Josie was surprised for a moment, but she quickly recovered. 

Josie experimentally scratched just behind her ear. Wolf-Hope shifted and shut her eyes, a pleased rumble echoing through her chest. Josie smiled, running her fingers through her fur.

Wolf-Hope was satisfied with this for a while, and they fell into a still silence. Josie absentmindedly scratched her behind the ears while she tilted her own head back to look at the stars.

Eventually, the movements of Josie’s hand slowed to a near halt, which wolf-Hope apparently didn’t appreciate very much. She grunted, raising her head to try to urge Josie to start petting her again. Josie just looked down at her, surprised.

Wolf-Hope was apparently not patient whatsoever. When Josie didn’t instantly start petting her again, she let out a loud whine and twisted to lay on her back, holding her paws up in the air.

Josie’s eyes widened at the shift. Wolf-Hope whined again when Josie didn’t react soon enough. She wriggled around restlessly on her back, brushing up against Josie’s leg.

Hesitantly, Josie reached out to rub wolf-Hope’s stomach. This was apparently exactly what she wanted, because wolf-Hope let out a pleased huff and immediately stilled under the attention.

Josie smirked, scratching a bit more confidently. She suddenly stumbled upon a spot that caused one of Hope’s hind legs to start rapidly kicking through the air. 

Wolf-Hope’s eyes shut, and her face contorted strangely when Josie continued to scratch at the spot. Josie giggled, beyond amused. “Oh, it’s going to be _so_ damn cute when you’re embarrassed about this later,” she muttered to herself with a loving grin.

Wolf-Hope either didn’t understand what she’d said or didn’t care, because she remained in utter bliss until Josie eventually stopped. Even when Josie stopped, wolf-Hope just flopped down onto her side and splayed out on the deck, her eyes starting to droop closed.

Wolf-Hope took a little nap while Josie stood watch, but she eventually stood up and trotted back behind the tree where Hope had initially changed.

After a couple of minutes, Hope walked back to the dock in human form. Her head was down but her face was clearly flushed, and she was making a concentrated effort to avoid Josie’s gaze.

Hope plopped down ungracefully on the dock beside Josie. She spoke before Josie could. “Don’t say anything. Don’t look at me,” she mumbled when she felt Josie’s teasing stare burning into the side of her head. “Let’s just never speak of this again.”

Josie smirked. “Never speak of _what_ again?” she started with faux innocence. “Oh, you mean the fact that you like to have your _tummy rubbed –”_

“ _Josie_ ,” Hope whined with a miserable pout. “Stop it.”

“Okay, okay,” Josie relented, putting her hands up in surrender even though she was still smirking.

Hope huffed out a sigh, still pouting adorably. Josie decided that this would simply not do. She ducked in to plant a firm kiss on Hope’s lips, lingering for long enough to make sure that Hope’s pout had melted away.

Naturally, Hope trailed after her when she pulled back. Josie smiled, giving her one more peck before withdrawing fully. Hope’s eyes blinked open and she gave Josie a sheepish smile, apparently forgetting about why she’d just felt so mortified moments before.

Josie glanced down and noticed that Hope’s arms were covered in goosebumps. This wasn’t exactly a surprise – Hope was wearing a thin tank top, even though it was chilly out. “Are you cold?” Josie asked with a concerned frown.

Hope’s brow furrowed with confusion until she glanced down at her arms and saw the goosebumps that had Josie’s attention. “I’m fine,” she muttered dismissively, shifting and glancing away.

Josie rolled her eyes. “Hope, you’re cold,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Here, take my sweatshirt,” she ordered, already pulling it over her head.

Hope didn’t like that idea at all. “No, then _you’ll_ be cold,” she protested, resisting when Josie tried to shove the sweatshirt into her hands.

Josie shook her head. “I’m fine, I have a long-sleeved shirt on,” she insisted, trying to push the sweatshirt into Hope’s arms once again. “Unlike you, coming out here in a tank top,” she scolded with another frown.

Hope shrugged. “I’m a wolf,” she said. “I run hot.”

Josie glared, not buying it at all. “Hope, shut up and wear my sweatshirt,” she commanded, leaving no room for argument.

Hope just stared back at her for a moment, but she ultimately gave in. “Fine,” she mumbled, reluctantly taking the sweatshirt and pulling it over her head. She glanced at Josie out of the corner of her eye. “God, are all our arguments going to be about which of us gets to look out for the other?”

Josie laughed at that, and Hope had to join her. It was difficult for Hope to not feel overjoyed whenever Josie laughed, even when Josie was laughing at her.

“It’s kind of nice,” Josie said quietly once her laughter settled down. She shrugged. “Shows me you care.”

Hope replied to that with a chuckle and a half-smile. “I do care,” she admitted, her voice just as hushed. “I care a lot.”

Josie tried and failed to fight the grin pulling at her lips. “I know you do,” she replied. “I care, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for all of the feedback. Let me know what you think. :)


	27. Sparring

It was late when Hope finally made it back to her room. It was so late, in fact, that Hope and Josie had to sneak into the school to avoid getting in trouble. 

Time had gotten away from them down at the dock, which Hope entirely blamed Josie for. The siphoner _really_ didn’t have to pin Hope to the nearest tree and kiss her senseless like that.

Hope hadn’t complained at the time, though. That would’ve required her to be able to string words together. Hope could ultimately do nothing but slump against the tree behind her with a submissive sigh, any trace of the desire to “dominate” (as she had in the closet) lying dormant.

Apparently, Hope confessing that she _‘cared a lot’_ had gotten Josie all riled up. 

Hope was grateful for the fact that it was so dark out, because it meant that Josie wasn’t able to see the full extent of the furious blush on her face. Not that Josie was looking – she was busy kissing every spot on Hope’s neck that she could reach.

The dark did nothing to hide the breathy noises that Josie was working hard to coax out of Hope’s throat, though. Hope didn’t feel like she had any control over them whatsoever, so she'd pretty much given up on holding them back. She was only able to listen passively as they overshadowed the sounds of the crickets. 

Hope tried to focus on the feeling of the bark rubbing up against her back as a frantic attempt to keep herself under control. It didn’t work at all. She eventually just gave in to the sensation and pulled Josie closer by the waist. 

Josie seemed very pleased about how far Hope was allowing her to go. Hope felt Josie’s cocky smirk pressing up against her neck, which was the only warning Hope got before Josie slipped a hand beneath her sweatshirt. Hope’s breath caught harshly in her throat. 

Josie gently bit down on Hope’s throat while she scraped her nails down Hope’s abs and toward her belt buckle.

Hope might’ve even let Josie go further if she hadn’t been so damn embarrassed by the jolt of her hips and the loud, desperate whine that tumbled out of her mouth in response. She tried to ignore the burning of her cheeks and pushed Josie back by the shoulders with shaky hands.

Josie looked like the last thing she wanted to do was stop, but she respected the cue and pulled away regardless. Hope regretted stopping her the moment she saw the look on Josie’s face. Her lips were still parted like she was in a trance. Her eyes were dark and lustful, still fixated on Hope’s neck intensely like all she wanted to do was lean back in.

Hope considered saying _fuck it_ and pulling Josie back in to let her do whatever the hell she wanted to do, but she was still trying to get used to the feeling of hovering on the edge of a heart attack for an extended period of time.

Josie eventually realized that she was staring and snapped her gaze away from Hope’s neck. She looked back into Hope’s eyes and smiled sheepishly, a little bit embarrassed herself. Hope smiled back weakly, still shuddering with heavy breaths.

Josie reached out and cupped her cheek, scanning over Hope’s face like she was a work of art. “You’re so beautiful,” she murmured quietly.

Hope gulped, shifting nervously on her feet. “I…,” she trailed off, clearing her throat when her voice came out scratchy and unsteady. “I mean, thank y-you. So are you.”

Josie smiled again, taking a minute to compose herself before she grabbed Hope’s hand and started to drag her back toward the school. Hope was still trying to get her heart-rate back to normal by the time they made it inside. 

Josie gave Hope a beaming smile, a tight hug and a peck on the cheek before they parted ways. After fumbling with her keys in the dark, Hope finally managed to pull her bedroom door open. She was still feeling a bit lightheaded.

Hope stepped inside to find Alyssa already reclined on her bed, sporting a nasty black eye. The dim lamp on Alyssa’s bedside table was the only source of light in the room. 

Hope immediately tensed, having forgotten about everything that had happened with Alyssa altogether. Kissing Josie had the tendency to wipe her mind into some sort of blissful oblivion.

Alyssa only glanced up to give Hope a blank, lingering stare before looking back down at her phone and ignoring her altogether. Alyssa was obviously getting ready to go to sleep, so Hope just pulled her shoes off and crawled into her own bed.

It didn’t take long for Alyssa to shift to switch off the lamp. The room was instantly submerged into darkness. Hope tensed for a moment, but her eyes quickly adjusted; that was one of the perks of being a wolf. She stared up at the ceiling with a tense frown, glancing at Alyssa suspiciously every few seconds in a way that she probably thought was subtle. 

After this dragged on for a while, Alyssa huffed out an irritated scoff that made Hope jump, startled. “Stop staring at me like you think I’m going to murder you in your sleep, Mikaelson,” Alyssa snapped irritably.

Hope stared at Alyssa out of the corner of her eye without turning her head, no longer trying to be subtle about it. She could see that Alyssa had turned her head to stare back at her, looking decidedly unimpressed. Hope cleared her throat awkwardly. “Well, are you?” she eventually asked.

Alyssa rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. She turned her head back to stare intently at the ceiling. “Alright, listen,” she began gruffly, apparently very reluctant to say whatever she was about to say. “I don’t know why I said that stuff to you about your Dad.”

Hope’s brow furrowed with confusion. That was the last thing she’d expected Alyssa to say, but Alyssa had a frown on her face and looked like she genuinely wasn’t sure why she’d made those comments. “Huh?” Hope replied dumbly.

Alyssa sighed as if discussing this was painful for her. “Look, I know that I’m a coldhearted bitch,” she said casually, still avoiding looking in Hope’s direction. “And normally I’m fine with that, but I crossed a line earlier. I understand why your psycho girlfriend hit me.”

Hope once again flinched at the term _girlfriend_ , but she was far too confused about everything else to address it. Alyssa’s tone was clashing pretty seriously with what she was saying – she sounded irritable and dismissive, but it almost seemed like she was trying to apologize or something. 

Hope cleared her throat, trying to keep the confusion out of her voice. “I don’t understand,” she started awkwardly. “What are you saying?”

Alyssa scoffed, and Hope was able to see her rolling her eyes despite the darkness. “I’m apologizing,” she snapped, sounding anything but apologetic. “Don’t get used to it.”

Hope gaped in shock, raising herself up to her elbows so she could stare at Alyssa more directly. “You’re _apologizing?”_ she echoed, completely unable to comprehend what was going on.

Alyssa gave her a bemused stare. “Yes,” she confirmed simply. “Glad we got that over with. Anyway, I want a truce.”

Hope’s eyes widened even further, if that was even possible. “A _truce?”_ she echoed once again, astounded. Hope hadn’t thought it was possible to be so confused. “Are you kidding? Is this a trick?”

Alyssa released an annoyed huff. “ _No_ ,” she growled. “God, do you have to make this so difficult?”

Hope just stared at her blankly in the dark, unable to stop gaping in shock.

Alyssa shook her head, clearly miserable about the topic of the conversation. “Hope, I’ve nearly been murdered more than once this month by you and little-miss-burn-the-school-down,” she snarked. “I’m smart enough to know that if we keep going with this it won’t end well for me. So, tell Josie that I want to bury the hatchet.”

Hope’s face was still frozen in shock. “Oh,” she grunted after a pause. She cleared her throat and shook her head to snap herself out of it. “I mean… okay.”

Alyssa nodded and grunted her agreement. “Great, glad we cleared that up,” she muttered with an air of finality. Alyssa turned around to lay on her side with her back facing Hope.

Hope took a moment to recover, still unable to process the conversation they’d just had. She had never once expected Alyssa to apologize for anything whatsoever. Eventually, Hope laid back down and stared at the ceiling again, still bewildered.

It was only a minute later when Hope heard Alyssa roll back over to face her again. Hope glanced at her out of the corner of her eye warily, wondering if Alyssa was about to take everything back and laugh in Hope’s face because she fell for it.

“By the way, in the spirit of our truce,” Alyssa began, her expression unreadable. Hope just looked at her skeptically, waiting for her to continue. “Don’t forget to cloak those hickeys before you leave the room in the morning. I can see them in the dark.”

Hope barely stopped herself from letting a strangled, panicked noise burst out of her throat. Alyssa was already rolling over again, mercifully, so at least Hope was able to contend with her mortification in peaceful solitude.

* * *

The next morning, Hope had to wake up earlier than usual to train with Alaric. Their training had been significantly cut down since the whole Dark Josie fiasco and the subsequent monster hiatus, but they still met twice a week.

Hope was glad for it, because she wanted to confront him about why he wouldn’t tell her about Alyssa being released. Even though Alyssa had apologized (a fact that Hope was still trying to understand), what she’d said about Alaric had still gotten under Hope’s skin.

Hope felt a little awkward knowing that there was only an elementary illusion spell keeping him from seeing the marks his daughter had left all over her neck the night before. She felt even more awkward when she walked by the tree where Josie had given them to her. She rubbed at her neck awkwardly as she approached, as if to reassure herself that they were still covered up.

Alaric didn’t stare at her with suspicion the way part of her had expected him to. He just gave her a polite smile to acknowledge her presence and tossed her a staff.

Hope waited a few minutes before breaching the subject, falling back into the routine of deflecting his hits and attempting her own. 

“So,” Hope started carefully as she deflected a hit with ease. “You let Alyssa out of the dungeon?”

Alaric glanced up at her face for a split second before going back to anticipating her next move. “Yes,” he replied simply.

Hope’s jaw ticked visibly as she dodged one of his strikes. “Well, thanks for letting me know,” she said sarcastically. “I wasn’t taken off guard by that at all.”

Alaric glanced up at her once again. Hope felt a twinge of irritation at the fact that he didn’t look apologetic about it. He seemed to just choose to ignore what she’d said altogether.

Hope wasn't going to let him get away with that. She cleared her throat and kept following his lead instead of striking back, trying to keep her voice neutral despite her irritation. “What about her link to the Necromancer?” she asked.

“That’s taken care of,” Alaric answered, his voice curt and final.

Hope scowled, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Interesting. Do you want to explain to me how?” she prompted impatiently, sick of Alaric dodging the subject.

Alaric took a few steps back and fell into a defensive stance, giving Hope a stern look. “You don’t need to worry about it, Hope,” he claimed. “All you need to know is that Alyssa’s link to the Necromancer is broken.”

Hope scoffed, taking a step back, relaxing her stance and setting one end of her staff against the floor. “Are you kidding me?” she snapped irritably, raising an eyebrow.

Alaric sighed, resting his own staff against the ground and pinching the bridge of his nose with frustration. “Alright, fine,” he huffed out reluctantly, his stance relaxing in turn. “Alyssa’s smart. Apparently, when she realized that she might be under the Necromancer’s influence again, she found a witch who could cast a protection spell on her just in case.”

Hope stared at him blankly. “And?” she prompted.

“And she’s lucky that she did, because she was attacked by a new monster last night while she was still down in the dungeon,” Alaric explained. “She said it was like the monster pulled her life-force out of her body, but the spell made her resurrect. She had her own heartbeat when she woke up; there’s no mark where the Necromancer stabbed her. You don’t have to worry about her being linked.”

Hope’s jaw dropped. “There’s a new monster?” she asked, shocked. After a moment, she looked like she felt betrayed. “Wait, you weren’t even going to tell me?”

Alaric looked at her warily, gulping and picking up his staff again as though he wanted to end the conversation and get back to sparring. “I captured it. It’s contained,” he stated firmly.

Hope’s eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy with his reply. “Well, what is it?” she demanded, not moving back into position and just looking at him expectantly.

Alaric frowned, lowering his staff once again with a sigh. “It’s under control, and it’s not your problem,” he replied dismissively.

Hope scoffed in disbelief; her eyes lit aflame. “Is that a joke?” she spat angrily.

“No, Hope,” Alaric said sternly. “That wasn’t a joke.”

“Well, it sounded like a _joke_ to me,” Hope hissed, raising her staff and slamming it against the wood of the dock to express her anger.

Alaric sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose once again like Hope was being unreasonable. “Look, I know that you aren't going to understand this,” he started, his voice a bit patronizing and impatient. “But I’ve realized that I haven’t been fair to you. Ever since we started dealing with monsters, I’ve treated you more like a coworker than a student. So, I’m going to hire adults who are more well-equipped to handle things like this. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Hope’s jaw gaped open and her brow furrowed like he’d just said the most incomprehensible thing she’d ever heard. She huffed out a disbelieving laugh. “What do you mean, more _well-equipped?_ That’s such bullshit,” she replied, the disbelief shining through in her voice as well. “You’ll come crawling right back to me when things get out of hand, and you know it.”

Alaric tensed at this, his expression becoming guarded. “Hope,” he started, his voice firm and unyielding. “I’m doing this for your own good. It was unfair of me to put you in a position where you thought that all of this monster business was more your responsibility than mine. You should get the chance to be a normal teenager.”

Hope laughed darkly, like that was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. “I’m the furthest thing from _normal_ ,” she hissed with a scathing glare, her voice loaded and volatile. “Stop speaking to me like I’m a child.”

Alaric gave her a pointed look. “You _are_ a child,” he argued.

Hope scoffed furiously. “You'll only be able to say that for a few more months, you know,” she growled in reply.

Alaric clenched his jaw. “Ask me again in a few months, then. Maybe I’ll hire you.”

Hope really wanted to hit him for that, but she just barely managed to restrain herself. “So, what, I’m just fired now?” she asked, her knuckles turning white from how tightly she was gripping her staff. “You’re not even going to tell me about the new monster?”

“You don’t need to know about it,” Alaric said, his tone final. “You won’t be getting involved. In fact, you’re _forbidden_ from getting involved. Do _not_ go anywhere near the dungeon, or there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

Hope glared at him, her jaw ticking dangerously. “Oh, I _understand_ , alright,” she replied, seething with rage.

“I’m serious, Hope,” he insisted. “The monster already knows more about you than it should; I’m not putting you at risk.”

Hope recoiled with confusion. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she demanded, the anger still radiating off of her in waves.

Alaric sighed miserably. “Just drop it, Hope,” he practically begged her.

Hope gave him one last lingering glare, seemingly debating with herself over whether or not she should obey that request. After a long pause, she dropped her staff unceremoniously on the dock and stormed away from him.

 _Don’t go to the dungeon, my ass,_ Hope thought to herself. The dungeon was the first place she intended to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm about to take a weird turn with this but there's a reason for it lol.  
> Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading!


	28. Bartering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: There’s no specific trigger but there is creepy monster stuff and discussion that relates to mental health concepts/CPTSD, especially Hope’s abandonment trauma.

Hope’s rage spurred her to storm down to the dungeons, but something instinctual made her hesitate when she got to the bottom of the stairs. The air was heavy with tension, and the feeling only got worse the farther she traveled down the corridor. 

Hope must’ve been down there a hundred times before, and yet it felt different than it usually did. Fear twisted in her stomach and something in her begged her to turn back. It occurred to her that she felt as if she were entering the lair of a predator.

It seemed to be darker than it typically was, which Hope found both disconcerting and inexplicable. When Hope looked directly at the lamps lining the walls, they appeared to be shining at full intensity. Yet, the moment she glanced away, she seemed to have tunnel vision, the way sight tapers at the edges when the eyes are held still for too long. It was like the air was thick with some kind of energy that stunted light beams at their source.

Hope seriously considered turning back. But she was no coward, and she’d come down here for a reason – to figure out what the hell this new monster was. She needed to know so that she could prepare herself to protect her friends. She didn’t intend to leave until she got the information she came for, so she decided to power on.

Hope instantly regretted that decision the moment she caught sight of it. It looked a bit like a man from behind, but it was hunched over in the corner of the cell with its back turned. It was shirtless, with skin that looked thick as leather, dark green and sickly. Its hair was ragged and unkempt; its muscles were misshapen and unnatural, jutting out in all of the wrong places and perpetually tense like a bowstring.

It seemed to have some restless, sporadic energy, because it kept shifting on its feet, nearly writhing with its forehead pressed tightly against the cell wall. It was mumbling something to itself under its breath in a perpetual stream of consciousness, too low and quick to be comprehensible. 

It looked tortured.

Hope was struck with the worst possible kind of empathy, so strong and gut-wrenching that she instantly felt the urge to vomit. It was an empathy tainted with the fear of the worst that a person could become; an empathy which she could only ever imagine being elicited by a tour of hell.

She stopped moving a few feet away from the cell bars, staring at it and seriously considering turning back before it caught sight of her. Her stomach dropped when it suddenly stilled and went silent.

As disconcerting as its rambling had been, the silence was far worse. It gave way to a tension unlike any Hope had ever felt before. She knew that her presence had been detected – she could sense the fact that the thing had become aware of her. She found herself feeling paralyzed and strangely exposed, a surge of lightheadedness nearly forcing her to sit down on the floor.

It turned to look at her, its movements excruciatingly slow. Hope felt more horrified with every new inch of it that was revealed – everything about it was just slightly off enough to be disturbing. Its eyes were just a bit too sunken into its head and offset, somehow glazed and piercing at the same time. Its mouth was set in a drooping frown, the corners of its lips pulled unnaturally low.

It stared intently at Hope for a moment, and then it sucked in a rattling breath before it spoke. “Ah,” it released on a drawn-out exhale. 

When the monster spoke further, its voice was scratchy and cracked on every other word, as if its vocal cords were just as malformed as the rest of its body. The pacing of its speech was erratic and fluctuating, and its body twitched violently with every phrase as though stumbling upon its words fueled it with a burst of energy. “I’m glad to see that you’ve received my invitation, Miss Mikaelson.”

Hope swallowed thickly, finding herself only barely able to maintain the composure that she typically donned when she spoke to monsters. She cleared her throat before speaking, ensuring that her voice was tight and controlled. “What invitation?” she demanded. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively, managing to keep her expression stony and guarded. “How do you know my name?”

The monster seemed to laugh, as though her question was a joke that only it understood. The jagged sound was barely recognizable as a laugh. Its chest heaved sharply with it. Its upper lip curled back as it stumbled awkwardly to face her, bent over like a runner in a starting position. “I’ve learned quite a bit more about you than that. Surely you know that you’re at the center of everyone’s story,” it drawled, its voice just as disturbing as the first time it spoke. “Though everyone’s uncertain of what role you’ll play. Your headmaster, in particular, holds some conflicting opinions about you.”

Hope looked at it suspiciously, trying to stitch together the fact that its speech was so articulate even though it looked and sounded so much like an animal. “What did Dr. Saltzman tell you about me?” she asked carefully, not allowing her emotions to show on her face.

The glaze of its eyes cleared a bit as its gaze homed in on her intensely. It suddenly scuttled to the side on all fours, and Hope’s eyes flickered to follow it while she made a concentrated effort to keep herself from flinching. Hope absentmindedly wondered if it was acting in this way just to scare her.

The monster let out a low hissing noise that somehow morphed into speech after a long moment. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be so concerned about what Dr. Saltzman thinks of you,” it suggested, its voice lilting upward, perhaps as a failed attempt to sound casual. Hope somehow felt like she was being taunted, but she was uncertain of how. The monster’s eyes became calculating, but then distant and glazed once again. “He’s hardly a flawless man. It’s arrogant of him to have an opinion at all. I can already see that he is wrong about you.”

While the monster was speaking, Hope’s lightheadedness seemed to have intensified. She felt dazed and confused, and she began to rub at her eyes to try to get a hold of herself. She took a step backward, resisting the urge to flee the room and go lay down.

The monster mistakenly took her silence as a cue to continue, countering her step back with a step closer. “What Dr. Saltzman has revealed to me about you reflects less upon you and more upon him,” it gasped out, its tone hurried and frantic. “Perhaps you’d be more interested to know what I’ve learned about Dr. Saltzman himself.”

Hope heard the words echo in her head and attempted to process them, a frown pulling at her lips. Part of her wanted to hear what the monster had to say for some odd reason, but a larger part of her felt like that was a very bad idea. “That’s not what I came here for,” she muttered weakly, looking back up at the monster and attempting to steel herself. “I want to know what you are.”

The monster scowled, its eyes narrowing and the muscles of its shoulders contorting with tension. “Oh, but that’s _exactly_ what you came here for. You can lie to yourself, but not to me; never to me,” it replied, apparently infuriated. “You’d prefer to think that you’ve come here to protect your friends, but you’ve come here to prove a point.”

Hope squinted at it, feeling even more confused and disoriented than before.

The monster simply tilted its head to the side, taking another slow step forward like a predator preparing to pounce. “Let’s stop with the pleasantries,” it growled, suddenly vibrating with impatient anger. “Allow me to gift you with information about your headmaster in exchange for the information you will soon give to me.”

Hope blinked, the offer seeming to snap her out of her daze a bit with a jolt. “I won’t be giving you any information,” she snapped in reply, feeling her sensibilities beginning to return to her and knowing better than to make a deal with the devil.

The monster huffed, apparently more amused about that response than anything else. “I don’t need your permission to _take_ ,” it hissed dangerously, scuttling even closer to the bars.

Hope scoffed. The monster had no intent to tell her what it was, clearly, so she figured that she should probably take advantage of her slightly improved lucidity and leave. Something weird was going on here, and she realized suddenly that it would be unwise of her to stay. “Well, you don’t have my permission to waste my time,” she hissed back sharply, already spinning around and walking toward the hall.

“Dr. Saltzman’s authority is baseless,” the monster’s voice boomed after her, filled with such infallible certainty that Hope was forced to halt in her tracks. 

Hope spun around immediately, taken aback by the statement. She stared at the monster, her brow furrowed with confusion.

The monster grinned back at her slowly, all crooked, rotting teeth. The look gave Hope chills and made her feel a bit sick to her stomach, but she remained paralyzed in place and was unable to do anything but watch.

“His power is an illusion,” the monster continued, its voice hinting at some sort of impending mania. It laughed again; a shrill, maddened sound that made Hope shudder involuntarily.

Its slouched form paced in front of the cell door with restless energy, as though releasing this information was providing it with something akin to a caffeine high. “Oh, but he takes _pride_ in it, doesn’t he? He tells himself that _this_ – ” the monster cut itself off, its arms gesturing wildly around the cell and its gaze darting across the ceiling in a frenzy.

It looked back at Hope suddenly with narrowed eyes, falling still. “He tells himself that all of this is to protect his daughters,” it drawled, its tone mocking and dangerous. 

“Imagine that! He has himself convinced that he’s protecting his daughters by surrounding them with the most dangerous creatures on earth!” it exclaimed with yet another sickening laugh. The grin fell from its face over the course of a split second; the abrupt shift was quite unsettling. “But no, it’s not about that, not really. It’s about being able to cart around the most powerful beings in the world.” 

The monster cocked its head to the side, studying her solemnly. “He takes his power vicariously, like men who own tigers. He teaches tricks,” it observed, its voice steadier than before. Something dark sparkled in its eyes. “And what a good little pet _you_ are, Hope Andrea Mikaelson.”

Before she knew it, Hope’s lips were curling back into a snarl, a warning growl bursting free from her throat as she took a step closer to the door.

The monster seemed delighted by this reaction, like a cat cornering its prey. “Oh, but you’re _not_ , are you?” it drawled mockingly, slouched over once again like it was prepared to pounce. Its speech shifted; it now spoke as though its words were discoveries, rather than recitations. “No, of course not. How could you be? You’re not quite like the rest of them. You’re just a step away from spiraling, straight into nothing – just a step away from overtaking yourself.”

Hope frowned, confused by the accusation. She squinted skeptically at the monster, not quite sure of the game it was playing.

The monster simply breathed in deeply, basking in her stunned silence. It looked at her dismissively, as if there were nothing about her to be surprised about. It released the breath in an exhale and began to speak on the tail end of it. “And he’s scrambling, _scrambling_ ,” it muttered, apparently drained of energy. “He’s far behind, Hope Mikaelson. And he’d hate for you to figure that out. He’d hate for you to uncover what kind of monster _he_ is.”

Hope only found this comment more confusing. Everything about the conversation was confusing her, in fact – not just the things the monster was saying, but the way it was saying them. The way its speech was so cryptic and loaded; the way it kept looking at her like she should be getting more out of it than she was. The most disorienting thing about it was the way its mood kept shifting so rapidly; the way one sentence would be bursting at the seams with energy and the next would be monotone.

The monster allowed her to stare for another moment before speaking again with something akin to a self-satisfaction. “I bored of him quickly,” it said, with no small amount of apathy. “He was open, but empty.”

Hope jumped when the thing suddenly lunged at the door of the cell violently, its hands wrapping around the bars with a loud clash. Its nostrils flared, its eyes closing like it was smelling the fumes at a barbecue. Hope recoiled in disgust, reflexively stumbling backward.

The thing’s eyes snapped open and it glowered at her, its expression unreadable. “But _you_ aren’t boring, are you?” it began, its voice hinting at something deeper. “No, you’re an interesting one. I’d expect nothing less of such an _abomination_ ,” it hissed between heaving breaths. “Your relationships are… complicated. I suppose that’s what happens when you distill them.” 

Hope frowned, not liking the idea of this _thing_ knowing anything about her relationships. “Shut up,” she snapped quickly in reply. “Who –”

“Told me these things?” it interrupted, now filled to the brim with amusement and chuckling insanely to itself. “ _You_ told me these things. You’re telling me now. Do you not even hear yourself?” 

Hope scowled at it, glaring intensely. She was growing tired of the conversation, sick of feeling so off-kilter and out of control.

The monster scanned her face impassively, unimpressed. “I was hoping that you wouldn’t be so transparent, Miss Mikaelson,” it muttered, sounding truly disappointed. “I prefer a challenge. Your expression may be guarded, but you’ve no defenses beyond it, not really. You may fool those around you, but I see past it.”

Hope scoffed in reply, annoyed by the monster’s arrogance. “What the hell are you?” she demanded gruffly.

This question seemed to disproportionately infuriate it, its sickly lips pulling back into a snarl as it violently rattled the bars of the cell door in an attempt to lunge at her. “What are _you_?” it hissed in response. 

Hope felt herself beginning to get a headache.

“You’ve been so hollowed out ever since your parents died, haven’t you?” the monster taunted with a sadistic smile. Hope glared in response, but found herself unable to reply, suddenly feeling lightheaded and breathless. The monster surged on relentlessly. “You’ve allowed yourself to get so _lost_ in isolation, afraid to let anyone get too close – afraid to hurt them, as is in your blood – but more afraid that they will abandon you when they see you for what you are; a monster, like me.”

Hope felt like she had been stabbed, the weight of the words causing her to stumble back yet another step. The headache was beginning to become unbearable, having devolved into something more intense like a migraine, and she raised a hand to rub at her temple.

“You’re stuck,” the monster continued with a taunting laugh. “Stuck between wanting to hold onto every last bit of your father, so that he will not be forgotten,” it practically sang, waving an arm lazily to illustrate the option. “And wanting to strip anything resembling your father away from yourself, so that you may distance yourself from his legacy of pain and torment.”

The monster released a strangled growl when Hope just swallowed thickly in response. “You’d hate to prove them all right; to expose yourself as being just like your father, as being even _worse_ , the Greater Evil,” the monster hissed, pacing in front of the bars like a caged animal. “So, you play a more palatable character. You may have rebranded yourself as _Hope Mikaelson_ now, but Hope Marshall is alive and well. The robotic martyr, the one who always does the _right_ thing regardless of how she feels, the one who is constantly guarding and reining in her instincts.”

Hope felt like her head was about to explode from the pressure, going as far as to take a knee to try to cope with it. The monster watched her carefully, but she was busy intently staring at the floor, dazed and confused.

“But you and I both know that it would be so easy for you to just _snap_ ,” the monster spat. Its eyes sparkled like it was about to reach a punchline. “Just like Josie.”

Hearing Josie’s name startled Hope out of her stupor, the dazed look in her eye receding a bit as she blinked rapidly. She stared back up at the monster with dread and an uncharacteristic vulnerability. “H-how do you know –”

“About Josie?” the monster interrupted with a dangerous grin. “Oh, I sense _her_ in you, more than anyone else. Always in the corner of your mind, isn’t she?”

Hope felt her lungs constricting, finding it slightly harder to breath. She could only absentmindedly wonder what the hell this thing was before it began to speak again.

“Your _kindred spirit_ ,” the monster surged on, its words laced with venom. Hope flinched, struck by a flashback of the time she’d said the same phrase to Josie once. The monster just smiled. “The one who understands you more than anyone else – not just because of what you’ve told her, but because she has _always_ known. Because the ways in which you are the same are the ways no one else could ever hope to understand; the ways you can hardly admit to yourself.”

The monster chuckled at her stunned silence. “The attraction between you since you hit puberty; the affinity you’ve always felt for her dark side,” it growled. “The way she has always been encouraged to stifle herself into nothing, just as you have – and the way you’ve always admired her for managing to preserve a piece of herself.”

Hope pressed her forehead against her knee, hugging her leg against her chest like she was attempting to hide. She felt rattled and incompetent, unable to do anything other than breathe and attempt to follow the monster’s speech.

The monster looked victorious. “You’re just now taking a risk on her, but part of you has always known that it would be inevitable. The pull toward her was irresistible in the end, was it not? Written in the stars,” it said simply, as though it were a comment on the weather. “You only ever resisted it because she makes you feel unsteady. You’re used to people leaving; you don’t know how to react to the fact that she intends to stay. You’ve always wanted someone to stay, but you’ve never expected someone to – it doesn’t compute for you. You never thought you were worthy of it.”

The monster scoffed. “No one ever stayed for you; certainly not your father. You think you were only with Landon because he was immortal; safe?” it asked, its voice lilting upward like the idea was absurd. “You stayed with Landon long after you should’ve left him because he was _familiar_. He always kept himself just slightly out of reach, like your father – there was no sense in you trusting that he’d be there tomorrow.”

Hope remained still with her forehead pressed against her knee and her eyes closed, her face twitching like she was having a nightmare.

“Your father died too soon for you to have enough time to convince him to stay for you,” the monster deadpanned. “So, you found someone who had a habit of leaving just like him, and you kept _bartering_ for it until you were drained of all that you were; until you were _reduced_ to him,” it growled, its tone cruel and sadistic.

Hope flinched in response. The monster looked pleased at this, its calculating gaze intensifying as it writhed to move closer to her.

“That’s how love was defined for you – not as something given freely because of who you are, but as something you have to _fight_ and _beg_ for, because you’d otherwise be unworthy,” the monster trailed off, watching her reaction carefully. 

Hope let out a shaky exhale, her brow twitching like she was conflicted.

The monster’s brow furrowed, and it frowned in surprise, apparently puzzled by its next sentence before it even spoke. “But it’s not quite so, with Josie,” it said absentmindedly, the surprise leaking into its voice. “You never expected what you’ve felt for Josie.”

Hope snarled, her shoulders tensing like she was prepared to lunge. She rose to her feet, her eyes snapping open. “Keep Josie’s name out of your mouth before I come in there and -”

“And rip my tongue out?” the monster interrupted with a gleeful grin, looking quite excited about the idea. “I’d like for you to try,” it mocked, its head cocking to the side as a challenge.

Something about it caused Hope to pause. It seemed like the monster was trying to provoke her. She knew better, so she steeled herself after taking a few moments to breathe. “I bet you _would_ like that,” she replied curtly, crossing her arms over her chest and standing tall, her eyes suddenly clear and impenetrable.

The monster pouted, looking disappointed. “No, _no_ ,” it hissed irritably. “Don’t _shut down_. We were just starting to get somewhere.”

Hope scoffed in disbelief. “You’re not _getting_ anywhere,” she snapped. “You’re staying right where you are.”

The monster’s nostrils flared with irritation. It took a step back from the bars. “I was wrong,” it replied dismissively. “You _are_ boring. Quite unfortunate, for the most complex being in the world.” 

Hope wasn’t offended by this at all. She just stared back at it.

The monster scoffed, its body twitching violently with rage. “I’m done with you. You’re of no use to me,” it hissed, as though the statement were an insult. It paused for a moment, thinking. “But perhaps you could bring me someone more useful. I doubt you’d let your precious Josette Saltzman come anywhere near here, but I would like to speak to Mr. Kirby.”

Hope let out a short laugh, the request striking her as absurd. “That’s _never_ going to happen,” she replied with a shake of her head. “You’ll never speak to anyone again if it’s up to me.”

The monster rolled its eyes, which was quite a disturbing action to witness in such a grotesque being. “Don’t you get it?” it growled. “It’s not up to you.” 

With a wave of the monster’s hand, Hope was rendered rigid and tense like a kitten being picked up by the back of the neck. Her eyes glazed over like she was in a trance. 

When the monster spoke again, its voice was layered in octaves like a demon’s, its eyes glowing a deep red. “When you see him, tell our dearest Landon to do something _useful_ for once,” it commanded. “Remember how deeply you resent him for the times he’s left; for the way he made it so difficult to care for him, for the way he’s rejected your attempts to be vulnerable. _Undermine_ him. Send him to me.”

The monster waved its hand again, the red receding from its eyes. Hope collapsed in a heap on the floor, her eyes momentarily shut as though she’d passed out. She stumbled to her feet like a zombie after a beat.

“You’re dismissed,” the monster said cheerfully, snickering to itself as it returned to the place it had previously occupied in the cell before Hope showed up. It pressed its forehead against the wall and began to mutter to itself once again.

Hope didn’t snap out of her trance until she had already climbed the staircase. When she did, she flinched and blinked at the light, feeling disoriented. She glanced back at the door that she’d just come out of, for some reason unable to remember a thing that was said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any speculation on what the new monster is, besides a bad therapist?
> 
> Stan altoids.
> 
> Lizzie will be back next chapter. I miss her, too.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter @Th3Nutcase


	29. Revealing

When Hope left the dungeon, she felt gutted. In a way, she felt like she’d been stripped naked; like her psyche had been laid out bare before her. She was left only with the feeling, though – for some reason she couldn’t remember much of what was said.

The whole conversation felt foggy and just out of sight, quite like her memories of the first few months after her parents died. She felt like some deep part of her had awareness of what was said, but she was unable to recall any of it on command.

It reminded her of something Emma had once said, about how memories could be repressed.

It left Hope feeling disturbed and disoriented. She’d spent a bit too much time down in the basement, so by the time she got back upstairs she was already late to her first class. She frowned when she saw the time on her phone, ultimately deciding to just skip it. She really just wanted to curl up in bed and take a long nap.

When she made it back to her room, she immediately fell onto her bed with a miserable sigh. She stared at the ceiling with a frown, trying and failing to force herself to get up and change. When the time for her second class came around, she realized that she was simply too exhausted and decided to skip that one, too. 

She was feeling both sad and anxious, like all of her nerve endings were frayed. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone – except maybe Josie. Josie had a way of helping her to feel that everything would be okay, despite the chaos they lived in.

Hope could hardly go and pull her secret girlfriend out of class for no reason, though, so she settled for the next best thing. She rolled off of the bed and grabbed Josie’s sweatshirt from where she had tossed it on top of her desk the night before. She marched back over to her bed and crawled under the covers, curling up into the fetal position with Josie’s sweatshirt clutched in her hands.

She buried her face in it and breathed in. It smelled just like Josie – potent vanilla. Hope sighed happily, feeling the stress drain out of her body in an instant, as though it were magic.

Hope napped until just before lunch. She woke up with a little smile on her face, still surrounded by Josie’s scent.

Then, Hope felt her stomach growl and realized that she probably couldn’t stay locked up in her room forever. She rolled out of bed again and got dressed, getting ready to head down to the cafeteria. 

Hope grabbed her bag – she figured that she’d probably be able to go to her afternoon classes afterward. She was nearly out the door when she hesitated. 

“Fuck it,” she muttered to herself. She grabbed the sweatshirt again and pulled it over her head. She was having a pretty shitty day, and Josie’s scent had already made her feel a lot better about it, so she was just going to carry it around with her.

Hope left the room, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she made her way to the cafeteria. She wondered if Josie might be there. Hope didn’t really know if she was supposed to sit with her – it would probably be a lot easier to hide their relationship if Hope avoided drooling over Josie in public.

Hope was blindsided as she rounded a corner into the next hallway. “Where the _hell_ have you been, Mikaelson?” Lizzie called out loudly from behind her, jogging to catch up. Lizzie slowed to a walk beside her. She gradually herded Hope closer to the wall like they were in NASCAR, glaring at her.

Hope cleared her throat awkwardly. She’d nearly forgotten about Lizzie, and she'd also nearly forgotten about the closet incident. “Uh, I had to do something,” Hope muttered in reply.

Lizzie gave her an unimpressed look. “Wow, how vague and mysterious of you,” she snarked, obviously not really caring what Hope had been doing. “How did you escape from the closet last night?”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Magic,” she drawled sarcastically, even going as far as giving Lizzie jazz hands.

Lizzie scoffed. “Hilarious,” she deadpanned. “So, what happened in there? Did you lose your virginity?”

Hope flinched, her stoic mask slipping as she panicked. “ _Lizzie_ ,” she hissed under her breath, frantically glancing at the students passing by. Luckily, none of them seemed to be listening in, which Hope thought was a miracle.

“What?” Lizzie asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, are we pretending that’s not what you wanted to happen?”

Hope gave Lizzie a stern glare. “I can promise you that I have never once wanted to _lose my virginity_ in a closet,” she whispered harshly. “And I also didn’t want to be locked in one either, just for the record.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Could’ve fooled me,” she snarked. “You seemed to be getting pretty comfortable in there.”

Hope scoffed. “Are we talking about the actual closet or the metaphorical closet?” she asked with an unamused glare. “Because, no, I was _not_ comfortable in the actual closet.”

Lizzie chuckled, apparently pleased by Hope’s response. “It’s hilarious to me that we now have to specify. I love myself,” she said shamelessly. Lizzie suddenly grabbed Hope’s wrist and pulled her to a halt, preventing her from moving further down the hallway. Lizzie spun Hope toward her, facing her head-on. “Stop keeping me in suspense. What happened in the actual closet?”

Hope felt a furious blush beginning to rise to her face while she had a brief flashback to the compromising position that she and Josie had gotten themselves into in the closet. Hope began to panic, unsure of how on earth she was going to dodge Lizzie’s questions this time.

“Hope!” Landon’s voice called out from behind them, successfully putting the conversation on hold.

Hope flinched. She didn’t know if she should be thankful that Landon had interrupted or if it made things even worse. Hope turned to see Landon awkwardly jogging down the hall toward them, waving a hand through the air to get their attention. 

“Landon,” Hope observed, sounding not pleased to see him at all.

Landon stopped jogging a few feet away from them. He was already winded and out of breath. Lizzie scowled. “Um, we’re having an important conversation, bird boy,” Lizzie snarked irritably. “Goodbye.”

Landon ignored Lizzie altogether, which Lizzie clearly didn’t like if the way she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest was anything to go by. “Hope, I was hoping that we could continue our talk from the other day,” Landon suggested formally, as though he had rehearsed this.

Hope was suddenly struck by an irrational, disproportionate flood of rage. “Why the hell would I want to do that?” she snapped at him, her expression becoming cold and hostile as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Landon looked completely taken aback by this response. Lizzie also turned to look at Hope, her eyes widening with surprise.

“I – uh…,” Landon sputtered, trying to recover from the shock. He cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting on his feet to try to muster up the confidence to continue. “Well, you said that it wasn’t a good time for it before, but you said that we could talk later,” he reminded her. His gaze faltered when Hope didn’t react. “And, uh… it’s later,” he finished, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck.

Hope scoffed at that, her eyes filling with something dangerous. “Now’s not a good time, either,” she spat venomously. “In fact, most times aren’t a good time. Maybe _you're_ used to spending all the livelong day being useless, but that doesn’t mean _I’m_ not busy.”

Landon flinched, his eyes widening even further with shock. He recovered, his eyes narrowing immediately, obviously offended. “What, you can’t spare five minutes to talk to me?”

Hope laughed, the sound harsh and a bit cruel. “Not today. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now,” she said with a fake pout, her voice dripping with condescension like she thought he was an idiot. “Why don't you go down to the dungeon and get rid of the new monster for me,” she drawled sarcastically, rolling her eyes like she was sure that there was no possible way he could do that. “Maybe then you’ll be worth talking to.”

Hope spun on her heel and stomped away down the hallway, leaving him with his mouth hanging wide open.

Lizzie spared Landon a confused glance before she turned to follow after Hope, only speaking after they rounded a corner. “Um, well, shit,” she started, glancing at Hope warily like she didn’t recognize her. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved that. But since when do you _not_ go easy on our resident muppet?”

Hope halted in her tracks abruptly in response to Lizzie’s voice. She blinked rapidly, apparently confused and disoriented. “I don’t know why I said all of that,” she muttered to herself with a frown, her voice dazed. “That was mean.”

Lizzie shrugged, walking into Hope’s line of sight and turning to face her directly. “Honestly, Hope, it’s about time you start speaking your truth to him. He clearly can’t take a hint,” Lizzie said nonchalantly. She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowing. “Now, back to the important thing. Did you or did you not recite your love confession in the closet?”

Hope swallowed thickly. She’d been foolishly hoping that Lizzie would forget all about this. “Um, no,” she answered. That wasn’t technically a lie. “No, we just… nothing. We nothing, nothing happened,” she muttered. That was a lie, and a rather unconvincing one, at that.

Lizzie looked very irritated by this response. “Hope, explain to me how I literally _locked you in a closet_ together and you still haven’t kissed her yet!” she hissed, tossing her arms up in the air to express her frustration.

Hope just stared at Lizzie awkwardly for a long pause, her face paling at the scrutiny.

Lizzie rolled her eyes when Hope failed to provide an explanation. “What the _hell_ is wrong with you?!” she blurted out, her gaze scanning up and down Hope’s body like she expected to find some physical evidence of her inadequacy. Lizzie froze, her brow furrowing with confusion as her gaze fixated near Hope’s collarbone. “Wait, wait. Hold on,” she said slowly. Hope watched the frown spread over Lizzie’s face. “Is that Josie’s sweatshirt?”

Hope froze, the panic showing clearly on her face. She looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

Lizzie stared at Hope for a long, tense moment. Hope felt dread pool in her stomach as she watched the realization dawn in Lizzie’s eyes. “Oh, my God,” Lizzie said, her voice slow and dangerous. Hope gulped when she saw the shock begin to shift into anger. “Have you been _lying to me?!”_

Hope’s eyes widened, and she reacted quickly. She shoved Lizzie into the classroom they were standing beside, slamming the door behind them to avoid being overheard by anyone in the hallway. “Lizzie –”

Lizzie interrupted Hope with a loud, dramatic gasp. “How _dare_ you,” she hissed, scandalized, poking Hope’s sternum with an accusatory finger and glaring like Hope had stolen her puppy. “I have put more effort into cultivating this relationship than either of you combined, and you weren’t even going to _tell_ me?!”

Hope sucked in a deep, shaky breath, not knowing how to deal with the situation at all. “Lizzie, please. I can explain –”

“Oh, can you, now?” Lizzie interrupted again, sending Hope a venomous glare. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an expectant eyebrow. “Well, go ahead.”

Hope hesitated for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to figure out what to say. “Josie asked me to keep it a secret,” she eventually blurted out, sounding desperate to get the conversation under control. “She doesn’t want Landon to know yet, she wants to give him time process our breakup.”

Lizzie’s brow furrowed, and she recoiled from Hope, looking at her like that was the most bizarre thing she’d ever heard. There was a brief silence as Lizzie tried to process what she’d just heard. “Wait,” she started, her voice laced with confusion. “Are you telling me that my sister is keeping you in the closet to protect the feelings of your joint ex-boyfriend?”

Hope just stared at Lizzie blankly, unable to deny that even if she disliked the way it was phrased.

Lizzie scowled, taking Hope’s silence as confirmation. “How is Jar-Jar Binks _still_ ruining everything?” she snapped.

Hope’s face contorted with exasperated confusion. “Who?” she asked.

Lizzie rolled her eyes when her quip failed to land. “Y’know, Hope, it isn’t always easy being so creative all the time,” she said dismissively. She sighed deeply, shaking her head to get back on track. “Look, you can’t just _hide_ your relationship forever to protect Frodo. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Hope shrugged, shaking her head with a defensive frown. “It’s not forever, it’s just a couple of weeks,” she insisted. “I mean, I’m a private person, anyway. It’s not like I’ve been dying to tell people – you’re the only one it’s been difficult to keep it from.”

Lizzie scoffed. “I cannot believe you didn’t make an exception for me,” she huffed, still looking irritated but not as angry as before.

“I’m _sorry_ , Lizzie. Josie specifically told me not to tell you,” Hope said, her voice pleading and truly apologetic. Hope seemed to realize something, her expression warping with guilt. “Shit, and now you know,” she muttered to herself miserably, frantically running a hand through her hair. “Oh, God. She’s gonna be so mad at me.”

Lizzie scowled again, snapping her fingers in front of Hope’s face. “Um, hello? Do _not_ tell her you told me,” she commanded firmly, as though it were absurd that Hope would even consider doing so.

Hope looked even more horrified at this. “I can’t do that!” she whisper-yelled, panicked. Hope took a deep breath to attempt to calm herself, her eyes darting around the empty room like she was afraid someone might be eavesdropping in the corner. “I can’t lie to her.”

Lizzie sighed dramatically, pinching the bridge of her nose to try to contain her frustration. “And why the hell not?” she growled.

Hope shrugged awkwardly. “I physically can’t,” she whispered with a miserable frown. “I tried to once, it was horrible. I ended up having to clean the armory.”

Lizzie cocked her head to the side, looking very confused – this was the first time she was hearing of this. Lizzie decided to ignore the comment, rolling her eyes. “Well, try again!” she hissed. “The more you do it, the better you get at it.”

Hope scowled. “Lying’s not something I _want_ to be good at, Lizzie,” she hissed in reply. Hope shifted on her feet, staring at the wall and trying to keep herself from feeling more distressed. “I should just tell her that I told you,” she murmured to herself with a nod, trying to convince herself to gather up the courage.

In the blink of an eye, Lizzie slapped Hope firmly across the face.

Hope’s jaw dropped open, and she stared at Lizzie with wide eyes for a long moment, not knowing how to react. As she recovered, she began to look angry. “Lizzie, what the _hell_ –”

“ _Hope_ ,” Lizzie snapped. “Your relationship is just now blooming; it is delicate. I am not allowing you to _already_ give Josie a reason to doubt your allegiance. We’ll just hold out for a couple of weeks, then I’ll act surprised when Josie tells me.”

Hope was already envisioning Lizzie acting surprised, the way Lizzie had _acted_ like she was on a phone call to trick Alyssa. It only exacerbated Hope’s panic. “Lizzie, I need to tell her,” Hope said, the desperation and stress shining through in her voice.

“You _need_ to relax,” Lizzie growled, trying to force Hope to see reason. “You got the girl, congrats. Sneak around, let the risk of getting caught spice things up a little, keep her happy. None of this will matter later, she’ll tell me and believe that she was the one who broke the news. Most importantly, you won’t have to deal with her being pissed that you told her sister before she did.”

Hope felt herself beginning to hyperventilate. “Oh, God,” she muttered to herself, panicked.

“Hope, it’ll be fine,” Lizzie insisted.

Hope had a feeling that it would not be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it! :)  
> Next chapter should be interesting


	30. Manipulating

After her last class ended, Josie made her way back to her room. She figured that she would take the time to clean it – the last few weeks had been chaotic, and that was reflected by the disorganization of her desk.

She could’ve just used magic and been done with it, but she had realized in the brief time she lacked magic that cleaning manually was calming for her.

Lizzie waltzed in like she owned the place, as usual. She waved at Josie lazily and Josie shot her a quick smile before turning back to sort through her desk drawer. 

Lizzie made her way straight to her bed and reclined on it. With Josie’s back turned to her, she was free to study Josie as closely as she pleased. Lizzie allowed Josie to clean peacefully for a few minutes before speaking up. “We need to discuss Hope,” she said suddenly, her voice casual and nonchalant despite the fact that that her eyes were calculating.

Josie tensed up as though Lizzie had just informed her that the enemy would attack at midnight. “What?” she squeaked reflexively. Josie awkwardly cleared her throat and attempted to relax her muscles, realizing that she was definitely acting suspicious. “I mean, what about Hope?” she corrected herself, forcing herself to sound casual, too.

Lizzie rolled her eyes at the weak attempt. Josie didn’t notice, since she was still staring at her desk. “We need to discuss the fact that Hope is hopelessly in love with you,” she clarified, as though it should be obvious.

Josie tensed once again. She immediately busied herself by stacking some papers together on the desk, trying to seem unaffected. “What makes you say that?” she asked, the forced casualness in her voice slightly strained.

“Are you kidding me?” Lizzie drawled. She moved to sit up, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes like a predator about to pounce. Once again, Josie remained oblivious to this, since she refused to turn around. “You’re telling me you haven’t noticed that she’s in love with you?”

Josie felt herself begin to blush, her heart skipping a beat. She gathered some pens together, which, in fact, did not need to be reorganized. “I…,” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. “I mean, I don’t know,” she concluded with an anticlimactic shrug. She finally chose to turn around and face Lizzie head-on, even though she would’ve preferred to run away.

As Josie spun around, the calculating look in Lizzie’s eye was immediately covered up by her typical glazed-over, oblivious look. The set of Lizzie’s shoulders relaxed; she suddenly looked like she was barely interested in the conversation at all. “She practically drools over you all the time,” she observed with a casual shrug of her own.

Josie frowned, feeling a surge of protectiveness. “Lizzie,” she began, the threat in her voice thinly guised. “Don’t be mean.”

Lizzie raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “I’m not being mean, I’m just stating the obvious,” she said dismissively. “She goes all heart-eyes every time she sees you; it’s like she’s staring at a celestial body.”

Josie blushed furiously and glanced away, the comment reminding her a little bit too much of the celestial theme of her relationship with Hope. But, surely, Lizzie couldn’t know anything about that, could she? It was simply a bizarre coincidence. (Well, unless the fact that Hope kept bringing up the stars was no coincidence; unless the way Hope looked at her was really that obvious to everyone else.)

Lizzie looked satisfied by the fact that Josie was unable to come up with anything to say in response. “Listen, I’m sick of watching her pine after you,” she drawled, her tone almost bored. “You need to put her out of her misery.”

Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion. She was completely unaware that she was exactly where Lizzie wanted her. “Put her out of her misery?” she echoed with a frown.

Lizzie scoffed at the fact that Josie was not using their twin telepathy to get on the same page. “Yes, ask her out already!” she snapped impatiently. “Seriously, Jo, I can’t take it anymore. You need to make a move, because she can’t. She’s like a middle schooler with a crush, she’s so in love with you that she can’t even function. It would be gross if it wasn’t kind of sweet.”

Lizzie didn’t wait for Josie’s response before she hopped off of the bed, grabbing her jacket and heading toward the door. “Now that that’s settled, I have a date with MG,” she called over her shoulder. “I won’t be back tonight, see you tomorrow.”

Lizzie practically slammed the door behind herself on the way out, but Josie was too stunned to even notice. She was still lagging three steps behind in the conversation. What Lizzie said about Hope being _so in love with her that she couldn’t even function_ had just hit her. 

Josie was very glad that Lizzie had left, because it meant that she didn’t have to try to hide the uncontrollable, giddy grin that was spreading across her face. Part of her found it very endearing that Hope cared enough about her for it to be obvious to other people, even if it was probably going to make it difficult to keep their relationship a secret for much longer. 

It made Josie’s chest fill with warmth. She felt restless all of a sudden, wanting nothing more than to go find Hope and pull her into a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Lizzie was charging down the hall like she had somewhere to be, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like _“too easy”_. She pulled her jacket on before she walked outside, but then she came to a halt and pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Hope answered the phone on the third ring, just as Lizzie was beginning to suspect that Hope would let her go to voicemail. “Hello?” Hope’s voice sounded, obviously suspicious already.

“Hello, it’s me,” Lizzie greeted, somehow already sounding snarky. “I wanted to let you know that I just narrowly evaded my sister’s inspector’s eyeglass.”

There was a long pause as Hope digested this information, her lips twisting into a confused frown that Lizzie obviously couldn’t see. “Oh?”

“I mean that I don’t think she suspected me of knowing anything about your relationship,” Lizzie said, nothing in her voice giving away the fact that she was violently rolling her eyes.

“Oh,” Hope repeated, her voice sounding less suspicious and more relieved. “Well, good.”

Lizzie smirked to herself, glad that Hope was also right where she wanted her. “Anyway, are you in your room?” she asked, her voice once again not revealing her conniving expression.

“Uh, yeah,” Hope answered slowly, the suspicion returning to her voice. “Why?”

“Check your desk drawer,” Lizzie ordered simply, as though she were commenting on the weather.

There was another long pause before Hope replied, during which Hope stared at her desk like there might be a bomb in it. “Um,” she started. “What?”

Lizzie scowled and rolled her eyes again, this time allowing her impatience to seep into her voice. “Open your desk drawer and observe what is inside of it,” she commanded again, as if Hope were stupid.

Hope reluctantly got off of her bed and walked over to her desk to do what she was told. She pulled open her desk drawer slowly, afraid to find out what was inside. 

When Hope did not respond quickly enough, Lizzie felt like the turtle speed of the conversation was about to kill her. “Well?” she prompted. “Did you open it?”

Hope sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose from the frustration. “Lizzie, I think we need to talk about boundaries,” she said carefully.

Lizzie rolled her eyes once again. “Relax,” she said dismissively. “I could’ve read your diary, but I didn’t. I just left you some Altoids so that it won’t be unpleasant for my sister when you make out with her later.”

Hope’s expression dropped into a scowl. “Lizzie,” she hissed sharply. “Stop talking about me making out with your sister, it’s weird.”

Lizzie let out a dark chuckle. “Whatever,” she replied, dropping the subject and deciding to get to the point of the call. “I’m going out with MG, so she’s all yours tonight. Have an Altoid and go profess your love already, she’s in our room and I’m sure she’d _love_ for you to show up.”

Hope’s scowl deepened to the point that Lizzie could practically hear it in her voice. “Stop telling me to profess my love,” she snapped.

Lizzie sighed impatiently. “I will, as soon as you profess your love,” she retorted.

Hope simply hung up on her. Lizzie smiled to herself about a job well done.

Hope popped an Altoid into her mouth and decided to head over to Josie’s room – not because Lizzie had told her to, but because she wanted to. Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she closed the door behind her. She pulled it out to find that Lizzie had sent her a message.

 ** _Lizzie_** _: effin rude_ -_-

Hope chuckled, ignoring the message and shoving her phone back into her pocket.

She was slightly less anxious about going to Josie’s room this time around, which she was pleasantly surprised about. She seemed to be getting a bit more comfortable with their relationship, only feeling a few waves of panic before she knocked on the door.

At least she didn’t feel compelled to run away this time. Progress.

Josie opened the door after a few moments. She looked absolutely thrilled as soon as she saw that Hope was on the other side of it, her entire face lighting up with an uncontrollable grin like she’d won the lottery. 

Hope was taken off guard by it. She scanned through her memory, trying to figure out what she might’ve done recently to get Josie to look at her like she hung the stars in the sky. 

“Hey, babe,” Josie greeted with a wink, taking a step back to pull the door open wider. “Come on in.”

Hope tried to ignore the way her heart was palpitating in response to the term of endearment (and that wink, because, God, Josie was going to be the death of her). She just gave Josie a slightly awkward smile in return and stepped through the doorway.

Josie took a moment to shut the door behind her, but then she turned to stare at Hope again. Her eyes were sparkling with _something_ that Hope couldn’t identify, and her grin was still going strong. Hope wondered if her cheeks might be starting to hurt.

Josie only stared at Hope for a brief pause, studying her, before she stepped forward and pulled Hope into a tight hug. 

Hope felt her heart skip a beat, and she fleetingly worried that Josie would actually give her a heart attack someday. She chuckled nervously, wrapping her arms around Josie and feeling the tension drain out of her muscles. “What’s this for?” she murmured into Josie’s shoulder, her eyes nearly drooping shut as the hug extended long enough for Hope to get comfortable.

Josie pulled back just far enough to make eye contact. Hope didn’t even time to be disappointed about it, because suddenly Josie was looking at her with such depth and intensity that she couldn’t even think anymore.

Josie cupped Hope’s jaw, gently brushing a thumb over her cheekbone. She leaned in, pressing their lips together in a slow, passionate kiss that made Hope’s breath hitch in her throat.

After a long moment, Josie pulled away again. Hope subconsciously trailed after her as she sucked in a shuddering breath, but then she remembered herself with a sigh. She opened her eyes just to find Josie already staring back at her.

Josie’s eyes scanned over her face, her own expression very serious. “Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?” she murmured quietly in the space between them.

Hope’s eyes widened nearly imperceptibly. She suddenly felt vulnerable, biting her lip and looking at Josie expectantly in lieu of a response.

Josie’s lips quirked upward ever-so-slightly when Hope remained silent. She ran her a hand through Hope’s hair, her nails gently scratching at Hope’s scalp. Hope’s eyelids fluttered, nearly closing at the sensation.

Josie’s smile got a bit wider as she watched – she felt like the luckiest person in the world. She was the only one allowed to see Hope like this, so uninhibited and emotional. “There is no one in this world that I love more than I love you, Hope Mikaelson,” Josie stated with the utmost certainty.

Hope was totally shocked by this, her jaw going slack as she felt a heavy blush rising to her cheeks. “Y-you love me?” she echoed, sounding amazed at what she was hearing.

Josie’s smile widened even further, and now Hope could name what was in her eyes – _love_. “Yes,” Josie confirmed. She scanned over Hope’s expression, trying to memorize the look on her face. “More than I can say with words.”

Hope just stared at Josie for a long moment, completely dumbfounded. “Oh,” she eventually said.

Josie waited, staring back at Hope with a fond smile. When Hope didn’t say anything else and the silence extended for a little bit too long, Josie burst out laughing. She raised her eyebrows at Hope, in disbelief at her response.

Hope’s eyes widened even more, and she slightly panicked. “Oh! I mean, I l-love you, too,” she blurted out frantically, feeling the warmth gathering in her cheeks as her heart nearly burst out of her chest. 

Josie didn’t look bothered by the delayed response at all, just grinning widely and swooping in to kiss Hope again. The kiss was a bit frenzied at first, but it slowed down to become deep and languid, as though they were savoring each other. Hope let out an embarrassing moan when Josie trapped her bottom lip between her teeth, grasping at Josie's shoulders and desperately trying to pull her closer. 

Hope gasped when they eventually pulled apart, feeling slightly out of breath. “I was gonna tell you,” she said on an exhale. “That I love you. I was just scared that it might be too soon.”

Josie giggled at that. “Too soon?” she echoed, a bit breathless herself. “How long have we known each other, a decade?”

Hope shrugged, giving Josie a sheepish smile. “You’re right,” she acknowledged. She bit her lip after a moment, glancing away. Something like insecurity briefly flashed across her face. “Well, I guess I was just scared that you wouldn’t love me back,” she admitted quietly.

Josie frowned, her eyes softening. “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, running a hand down Hope's arm to intertwine their fingers. “You deserve all of the love in the world, Hope.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, Lizzie knows exactly what she's doing
> 
> Sorry that I'm lagging behind a bit on answering comments, I'll get to them soon!
> 
> Let me know what you think. :)


	31. Calming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: emotional flashback

“You deserve all of the love in the world, Hope.”

Hope froze, her heart constricting tightly in her chest. She swallowed thickly. Suddenly she felt like it was harder to breathe; like it was harder to keep her heart beating.

_That’s how love was defined for you – not as something given freely because of who you are, but as something you have to fight and beg for, because you’d otherwise be unworthy._

The words resounded in her head, harsh and cutting. It was her own voice, she thought, but she didn’t feel like she had any control over what it was saying.

Josie realized that something was wrong almost immediately. “Hope?” she called out.

Hope heard Josie’s voice distantly, foggy and distorted as though it were traveling through water. 

_… you kept bartering for it until you were drained of all that you were; until you were reduced to him._

The voice echoed in her head again, and there was even more hate in it than the first time. Hope stilled further, her expression taut like she might break at any moment.

Josie called out to her again. “Hope, what’s wrong?” Josie’s voice was firmer and more insistent now, but it made little difference. Hope’s senses seemed to be dampened. 

The voice sounding in her head – her voice? – was simply overwhelming. It was way louder than Josie’s voice, drowning her out. It was deafening and imposing. Hope got the terrifying feeling that it was inescapable.

Even Hope’s vision was closing in on her and darkening at the edges, just like it had in the dungeon. She felt like her eyes had glazed over. She had to make a concentrated effort to turn her attention to the look on Josie’s face.

Josie looked extremely concerned, maybe even slightly panicked. It made Hope feel guilty. She wished she could just snap herself out of it. She looked away and tried to avoid Josie’s gaze. 

_You’ve allowed yourself to get so lost in isolation, afraid to let anyone get too close – afraid to hurt them, as is in your blood –_

Hope absentmindedly noted that her cheeks were wet now, and that’s what made her realize that she was crying. 

When had she started crying? Why couldn’t she get a hold of herself? She didn’t want Josie to see her like this. She felt pathetic.

Josie wasn’t really looking at her like she was pathetic, though. Her expression seemed to have shifted – now, she looked more determined than panicked. “Come here,” she ordered gently, guiding Hope back toward the bed. “Come sit down.”

Hope did as she was told, since she didn’t have enough energy to protest. Josie sat down beside her, facing her directly. Hope barely resisted the urge to shrink under the attention.

_– but more afraid that they will abandon you when they see you for what you are; a monster, like me._

Hope nearly flinched, her breath hitching abruptly in her throat. Her lips trembled. She fought back a sob.

Josie thought that it was bizarre how Hope looked so tragically beautiful like this. Hope kept worrying her bottom lip between her teeth without even realizing it, so it was beginning to become a bit swollen. Besides that and the redness under her eyes, she was unusually pale. It posed a striking contrast to the icy, vibrant blue of her irises – quite unlike their usual darker shade, and far less guarded. 

Josie blinked rapidly and cleared her throat to dispel those thoughts, because now was obviously not the time for them. “Can I hug you?” she murmured instead.

Hope blinked back at her, apparently finding it difficult to process the request. She only hesitated for a moment before giving Josie a sharp nod.

_You’ve always wanted someone to stay, but you’ve never expected someone to – it doesn’t compute for you. You never thought you were worthy of it._

Josie pulled Hope into her lap and wrapped her arms around her. Moments before, Hope had felt like she was about to hyperventilate, but that was somehow held off by the fact that Josie was suddenly so close to her.

Josie held her tighter. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but you need to fight back against it for me, okay, babe?” she whispered softly into Hope’s ear.

Hope breathed in deeply, focusing in on the sound of Josie’s voice to attempt to ground herself. Another sob made her shudder, her body sharply curling in on itself, and she felt Josie pull her even closer, rubbing circles into her back. Hope tried to suck in another shaky breath and burrowed closer to Josie’s chest.

“Can you hear my heartbeat?” Josie prompted, her voice calm and steady. She ran a soothing hand through Hope’s hair. 

Hope stilled for a moment and listened, tuning into the quiet thump of Josie's heart in her chest. Hope cleared her throat and swallowed, her throat feeling raw and painful. She nodded once again, not trusting herself to speak.

Josie hummed her acknowledgement, and Hope heard it resonate deep in her chest before it made it out into the air. “Just listen to my heartbeat,” Josie commanded quietly, once again rubbing gentle circles into Hope’s back.

Hope took in another shaky breath, but she pressed her ear right up against the skin below Josie’s collarbone to listen more closely. Josie's heartbeat got louder now that Hope was so close to it; she could distinguish the pumps of each ventricle, one just slightly behind the other. Hope focused on the steady rhythm of it, her eyes falling closed and her racing thoughts fading away.

Hope’s breathing slowly evened out, her exhales deep and steady even though her inhales were still a bit ragged. Josie smiled and let out a relieved sigh that Hope felt in the rise and fall of her chest. “That’s it,” Josie murmured, her tone affectionate and maybe even a little bit proud. 

It took a while for Hope to respond. For a few minutes, she continued to focus on Josie’s heartbeat and the steady rise and fall of her chest, like she was in a trance. Josie didn’t seem to mind, just absentmindedly continuing to rub Hope’s back. Hope began to time her breaths with Josie’s until she felt in control again. 

Hope's eyes eventually fluttered open. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice scratchy and breathless but sounding quite loud after such an extended silence. She kept her head tucked against Josie’s chest, too ashamed to meet her eye. “I ruined your love confession.”

Josie immediately shook her head with a concerned pout. “No, no. Don’t apologize,” she insisted. "You didn't ruin anything."

Hope swallowed thickly. She pulled back and sat up a bit, but she made no move to get off of Josie’s lap. 

Hope tried to avoid meeting Josie's gaze, still feeling embarrassed about what had just happened. Josie wasn't having that - she reached out to caress Hope's jaw, guiding the tribrid to look at her. “What was that, Hope? Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Hope replied, her bottom lip trembling a little. “I’ve been feeling weird today, ever since…,” she trailed off, glancing away.

Josie’s pout deepened. She ran a thumb over Hope's cheek to brush away a residual tear. “Since?” she prompted gently.

Hope hesitated, biting her lip. “Please don’t be mad,” she muttered under her breath, shifting uncomfortably on Josie’s lap.

Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion and she frowned, studying Hope carefully for a moment before speaking. “I won’t be mad,” she replied, her tone sincere. “I promise.”

Hope looked at her for a long pause before speaking, as though she were trying to verify the promise. Then, she huffed out a sigh and relented. “T-there’s a new monster,” she admitted. “I went down to the dungeon this morning, to try to figure out what it is.”

Josie tensed at this, and Hope instantly felt a little trickle of anxiety. “Alone?” Josie asked, her expression unreadable.

“I…,” Hope trailed off, looking away guiltily. “Well, yeah,” she admitted in a reluctant mumble.

Josie sighed deeply, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Hope pouted. “Jo, you said you wouldn’t be mad,” she whined, looking and sounding a lot like a scolded child.

Josie sighed again. “I’m not mad,” she claimed, her voice a little bit strained. Hope looked at her skeptically, obviously not buying it. Josie just frowned back at her before speaking up again. “I just… don’t you remember the conversation we had about wanting to protect each other?”

Hope’s pout got more intense. She suddenly was sporting the most pathetic puppy dog eyes Josie had ever seen in her entire life, to the point where Josie almost flinched at how hard the look tugged at her heartstrings. 

“I’m sorry,” Hope mumbled miserably, staring down at her lap before hesitantly looking back up at Josie again. “Y-your Dad said something that really pissed me off, so I just went straight from training. I wasn’t thinking.”

Josie was speechless for a moment, because Hope was still pouting at her. It was too adorable for Josie to function properly. “I…,” Josie trailed off, glancing away and clearing her throat. “Stop looking at me like that, it’s not fair.”

Hope looked taken aback by the request, as though she hadn’t realized what expression she’d been wearing.

Josie spoke again before the conversation could be derailed. “Just text me first next time, okay?” she suggested, her voice firm.

Hope nodded quickly, eager to agree and be forgiven. “Yeah, okay."

Josie studied Hope for a moment, as though she were making sure that Hope meant it. Then, she relaxed. A thought seemed to occur to her. “What did my Dad say that pissed you off so much?” she asked curiously.

Hope immediately scowled at the memory. “He fired me,” she muttered resentfully.

Josie recoiled with surprise. “What?” she asked, shocked. “What do you mean by that?”

Hope shrugged dismissively, still scowling. “He said that he doesn’t want me getting involved with the monsters anymore because I’m a child,” she elaborated, looking away to glare at the wall.

Josie scowled, too, looking a bit irritated that Alaric would say such a thing. “Did he really say that to you?” she asked defensively, looking just about ready to charge into Alaric’s office and demand that he apologize.

Hope faltered at Josie's intensity. “Well, I mean, no. Not exactly,” she admitted. “But it’s what he meant. He said that he’s hiring adults to handle it, and then he told me that I’m not allowed to go down to the dungeon to see the new monster.”

Josie’s irritation dissipated at that; her scowl was immediately replaced by a confused frown. “Huh,” she grunted, her brow furrowed. She looked down at her lap, thinking. “That’s weird.”

Hope let out a dark chuckle. “I know, right?” she muttered to herself. “Who does he think he is?”

Josie glanced back up at her, her brow still furrowed with confusion. “No, I mean it’s weird because he should’ve known better,” she elaborated. She chuckled a little bit as a thought occurred to her. “Actually, I can’t think of anything else he could’ve said that would’ve sent you charging down to the dungeon sooner.”

“Oh,” Hope replied, not knowing what to make of that.

Josie studied Hope carefully, not sure if she should ask the next question. She would hate to upset Hope again, now that the tribrid seemed to have calmed down, but she ultimately couldn’t help herself. She was too concerned. “So, what happened when you went down there?” Josie asked, grabbing Hope’s hand and gently intertwining their fingers.

Hope looked down at their hands, watching as Josie brushed her thumb across Hope’s palm. “I don’t know. It was weird,” she mumbled, feeling a residual wave of fear. She once again tried to remember what was said, but her mind was still blank. “I think I talked to it, but I can’t remember anything. All I remember is that it felt like it was in my head, like it was finishing my sentences or something.”

Hope glanced up at Josie, who was listening intently and gave her an encouraging nod. “But then I left, and I’ve felt off all day,” she continued. “It’s like I’m on edge.”

Hope glanced away again, suddenly feeling very stressed and uncomfortable. She didn’t want to think about it at all anymore. She dropped Josie’s hand and began to fiddle nervously with her sleeve.

Josie glanced down at Hope's hand and just watched for a moment. “You’re still wearing my sweatshirt,” she observed simply.

Hope smiled automatically. It was less because of the comment and more because of the fact that Josie was able read her well enough to know exactly when to change the subject. “Yes,” Hope replied. Her smile faltered slightly as she recalled something that she’d realized maybe an hour or so before. “But it doesn’t really smell like you as much anymore.”

Josie raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side with a playful smirk. “And what exactly do I smell like?” she asked.

Hope shrugged nonchalantly, not bothered by the teasing for once. “Vanilla,” she answered seriously, like this was a fact that was very important. 

Hope seemed to have an idea suddenly, her eyes lighting up. She pulled the sweatshirt off of her body in one smooth movement, leaving her in just a tank top. She didn't notice the way Josie's eyes widened.

“Actually, can you wear it again and give it back to me?" Hope asked, pushing the sweatshirt into Josie's hands. "It makes me feel better."

Josie blushed a little bit at the request. “Uh, yeah,” she said, swallowing thickly. "Of course."

Hope smiled, her eyes sparkling fondly. It wasn't often that Josie acted nervous around her, but it was adorable whenever she did. Hope suddenly understood why Josie liked to tease her so much. 

Hope draped her arms around Josie's neck before leaning in to kiss her. Josie smiled into the kiss. That was the only warning Hope got before she was being swiftly flipped onto her back.

Hope released a startled _oomph_ as the wind was knocked out of her. "Jesus," she gasped out while Josie crawled on top of her. "Who's been training you?"

Josie laughed. "I learned a bit of self-defense when I didn't have my magic," she explained with a shrug.

Hope was about to say that it was a very specific position to know a self-defense move for when Josie leaned down and pressed their lips together once again. As usual, Hope forgot the English language. She opted to just kiss Josie back, arching up into her and pulling her closer by the back of the neck.

Hope reluctantly pushed Josie back by the shoulders before the kiss could get too heated. “I really do love you, you know,” she whispered breathlessly, her chest still rising and falling with heavy breaths.

Josie's eyes glinted mischievously. "Oh," she said, deadpan.

The response only hung in the air between them for a moment before Josie was devolving into giggles.

Hope rolled her eyes and scowled, but the affectionate glint in her eye gave her away. “Asshole,” she muttered under her breath, even as her lips were curling up into a smile. It was extremely hard to be angry when Josie looked so happy.

Josie stopped laughing, but she stared at Hope intensely with a beaming smile. "I'm kidding," she murmured. "I love you, too."

Hope smiled back at her, feeling her heart skip a beat. "I know you do," she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. Sorry for the delay.
> 
> Thanks for all of the feedback! Let me know what you think.


	32. Mortifying

The next day, Josie found herself in the library. 

She fully intended to buckle down and research until she figured out what the hell the new monster was. The thing had really messed with Hope’s head, apparently, so now it was personal.

Josie sat at a table with a stack of nearly a dozen books. She managed to get fully in the zone after about a half hour, slouching over one of the books as she mouthed the words to herself. 

Her focus was ruined when Lizzie barreled into the library with the force of a whirlwind, already speaking loudly to Josie as she approached the table. “Guess what I found when I broke into Hope’s room this morning,” Lizzie prompted, her voice singsong to match the smirk on her face.

Josie stared at Lizzie for a moment, disoriented as she tried to process her words. “I’m sorry, when you _what?”_ she eventually replied, her eyes widening.

Lizzie ignored the scandalized expression on Josie’s face and powered on without acknowledging the question. “I found a _sketchbook_ , Jo,” she explained with an exaggerated wink. “A sketchbook full of drawings of you.”

Josie stared at Lizzie with her mouth agape, shellshocked. Lizzie was completely making up the narrative, of course – she only knew that there was a sketchbook because of the time she had caught Hope drawing in it – but Josie didn’t need to know that.

Lizzie pursed her lips when Josie didn’t respond. “I’d show you, but I wouldn’t want to violate her privacy,” she explained, nodding seriously as though she were a saint.

This snapped Josie out of it, and she blinked a few times, sending Lizzie a scowl. “Lizzie, it sounds like you’ve already violated her privacy,” she snapped, her voice a bit defensive because of her desire to protect Hope.

Lizzie shrugged nonchalantly. “Someone needs to keep an eye on her, make sure she’s not brooding and drawing pictures of the Upside Down,” she drawled, sliding into the chair across from Josie without an invitation. She gave Josie a pointed look. “That someone could be _you_ , if you’d just ask her out already. Until then, I have to do it.”

Josie scowled. “You’re unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath, closing the book laid out in front of her. She wasn’t going to get anything done until Lizzie left, anyway. “I’m sure Hope doesn’t want you going through that stuff.”

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. “Then she shouldn’t have left it lying around,” she said with another shrug, as though it were obvious.

Josie sighed, frustrated. “How exactly is locking it in her room considered leaving it lying around?” she asked, sounding exhausted.

“Well, it wasn’t cloaked, was it?” Lizzie retorted. “Honestly, I think part of her wanted me to find it.”

Josie scoffed. “I highly doubt that,” she snapped.

Lizzie suddenly got a more serious look on her face. “The way I stumbled upon this information is irrelevant,” she claimed with the utmost certainty. Josie bit her tongue, knowing that arguing would be pointless. “I’m only bringing it up because it’s not healthy for her to be so pent up and sexually frustrated all the time. It has simply gone too far, Jo. She’s going to spontaneously combust.”

Josie recoiled, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks as she frantically scanned the library to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. She turned back to Lizzie with a stern glare. “Lizzie, _please_ , I am begging you,” she whispered, her voice harsh. “Do not talk to me about Hope being sexually frustrated.”

Lizzie scoffed, raising an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have to if you would just satisfy her needs already,” she claimed.

Josie’s eyes widened and she blushed even more heavily. “Oh, _God_ , no,” she groaned miserably, resting her face in her hands to hide it. “I am not having this conversation with you.”

Lizzie’s eyes lit up when she glanced over toward the entrance to the library, but Josie didn’t notice – her face was still buried in her hands. “Looks like you don’t have to. Courage the Cowardly Dog has arrived to bail you out,” Lizzie snarked with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Hope, over here!” she called out, waving a hand in the air to get the tribrid’s attention.

Josie dropped her hands from her face, her eyes widening with panic as she raised her head. Hope also looked startled when her gaze darted over to them. 

Hope even glanced around the room like she was searching for an escape, but she eventually realized that there was none. Hell hath no fury like Lizzie on a mission. Hope walked over to the table with her head down.

Hope only looked up when she made it within five feet of them. She was feeling very awkward and uncomfortable – frankly, she didn’t know how to navigate the situation. 

Hope’s dynamic with the twins was incredibly strange at the moment. She was dating Josie, but Josie thought that Lizzie was still in the dark about it, so Hope was supposed to pretend that they weren’t together. Lizzie was not still in the dark about it, however, and Josie was unaware of that. 

Ideally, Lizzie would feign ignorance, but Hope didn’t want to get her hopes up. Lizzie always seemed to enjoy messing with her head.

Hope glanced at the mountain of books laid out on the table. “What are you guys doing?” she asked carefully.

Josie gave Hope a tense smile, obviously not feeling very comfortable with the situation, either. “I’m doing research,” she explained. She turned to look at Lizzie, her smile drooping into a frown. “Lizzie just came here to bother me.”

Lizzie ignored the accusation, apparently unbothered by it. She just looked at Hope with a too-innocent smile. “Sit, Lassie,” she ordered simply.

Hope gave Lizzie an unimpressed glare, pressing her tongue into her cheek to attempt to contain her irritation. She huffed out a sigh and pulled out a chair next to Josie, sitting down anyway.

Hope felt a wave of anxiety as she stressed over whether it would’ve been better to sit next to Lizzie instead. She couldn’t panic too much about it, though, because Lizzie was already talking to her. “Hope,” Lizzie started, her tone warning of a hidden motive. “Don’t you think that Josie’s face is symmetrical?”

Hope frowned and her brow furrowed with confusion at the strange question. She stared at Lizzie like she was insane. “Um,” Hope grunted awkwardly, briefly glancing over at Josie. “I mean, sure. I guess.”

Lizzie smiled, as though she were pleased with this answer. “And say, theoretically,” she began again, glancing between Hope and Josie. “If you were to paint her, what shade of brown would you use for her eyes?”

Hope stared at Lizzie, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. She swallowed thickly, looking over at Josie again, who was biting her lip and staring intently down at the table. Hope looked back at Lizzie again with a defensive scowl. She wasn’t about to walk right into whatever trap Lizzie had set for her without a fight. “Why are you asking me this?” she snapped irritably.

Lizzie hummed, turning her nose up with feigned disinterest. “Oh, no reason,” she claimed, obviously lying. “I was just thinking about getting into art, so I was wondering how many tries it took you to get Josie’s proportions correct.”

Hope froze, her muscles tensing. She looked a lot like a cornered animal. Her face first paled to a concerning degree, but it soon reddened like a tomato. Josie glanced at the reaction out of the corner of her eye, feeling her chest flood with warmth. Apparently, Hope had never intended for Josie to find out that she drew her.

“What’s wrong, Hope?” Lizzie asked, her head cocking to the side, feigning confusion. Her eyes narrowed like a predator’s as she lunged for the punchline. “You’re acting a little bit _sketchy_.”

Hope released a disgruntled noise of protest and sent Lizzie an indignant glare, her face so red that she looked like she was moments away from hypovolemic shock.

Josie had to fight to hold back a giggle. She tried to hide the smile that was growing on her lips. It was way too adorable, how Hope was so embarrassed, and the fact that Hope actually had a habit of drawing Josie was even more endearing.

“Lizzie,” Hope hissed sharply, shifting in her seat with discomfort. “Stop.”

“Don’t get angry,” Lizzie said, her eyebrow raising. She looked almost bored, now, as though Hope were making it too easy. “You wouldn’t want to _draw_ attention to yourself.”

Hope practically snarled, her upper lip curling back as her glare got intense enough to burn a hole in the wall. “Lizzie, I swear to God, if you don’t stop it right now – ”

“Hey,” a voice suddenly interrupted, loud enough to cause Hope to flinch and cut herself off.

All three of them turned to face the newcomer, who had approached silently and taken them all off guard.

It was Jade. Hope frowned, trying to compose herself before Jade suspected that something weird was happening. 

Hope had honestly forgotten that Jade existed. 

Lizzie didn’t seem pleased to see Jade whatsoever, scowling like Jade had just thrown her ice cream in the dirt. Jade eyed her warily.

Josie was smiling politely, though, trying to make Jade feel welcome despite the fact that she had just interrupted them at a very awkward moment. “Oh, hey!” Josie replied, kicking Lizzie in the shin under the table as an attempt to disrupt her glare.

Jade smiled back at Josie. Hope’s eyes narrowed and darted back and forth between them.

“So, uh, Jos,” Jade started, looking slightly nervous. “I was wondering if we could talk for a minute?”

Hope didn’t like the sound of that at all, especially not with the hopeful way Jade was staring at Josie. “About what?” Hope blurted out before she could stop herself.

Josie tensed ever-so-slightly, to the point where it was nearly imperceptible. Jade frowned, looking over at Hope with a furrowed brow. “Um,” Jade started awkwardly. “It's kind of personal.”

Hope’s eyes darkened, her jaw clenching with tension. She somehow liked the sound of that even less, and it showed. “Is that so?” she drawled, her head cocking to the side as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Jade seemed very uncomfortable with the way the most powerful being in the world was looking at her – uncomfortable enough to begin rambling a little bit. “Well, I just wanted to check in,” she explained, clearing her throat. She looked back over at Josie, her discomfort melting away slightly as she attempted to look confident. “And see how you’re doing after everything that happened.”

Hope blinked, her eyes shimmering gold so briefly that no one caught it. “That’s funny,” she started, her voice a stone’s throw away from a growl. “Because you didn’t seem very concerned while it was happening.”

“ _Hope,”_ Josie immediately said, turning her head to give Hope a stern, warning stare. Hope instantly squirmed in her seat, looking down at her lap like a scolded puppy. Lizzie raised an eyebrow and brought a hand up to cover her mouth, trying to keep herself from laughing, but no one was paying attention to her.

Josie looked back up at Jade, who was staring at Hope strangely, like she was trying to figure out why she was being so hostile. “Yes, we can talk,” Josie said simply.

Hope instantly frowned at this, not happy about it whatsoever but not daring to object. Josie stood and moved to walk around the table, subtly trailing her fingers across Hope’s back as she passed. It made Hope relax slightly, but not completely.

Josie and Jade made their way over to a table that was a couple dozen feet away, sitting down across from each other. Hope was able to see Josie’s face, but Jade had her back turned to her. 

Hope was tense as a bow string. She studied Josie’s expression so intently that she nearly forgot about Lizzie’s existence altogether until Lizzie spoke up. “What are they saying?” she hissed at Hope, resisting the urge to spin around in her chair and stare herself.

Hope flinched. “I don’t fucking know,” she hissed back irritably, trying to be mindful of the fact that Jade had super hearing.

Lizzie scowled. “Can’t you read their lips or something?” she asked, just as irritable.

“I can’t see Jade,” Hope muttered absentmindedly, her eyes darting away when Josie briefly made eye contact with her. “And Jade seems to be doing most of the talking.”

Lizzie buried her head in her hands with a heavy sigh. “This is the worst thing that could’ve happened,” she groaned.

Hope looked over at her. Somehow, watching Lizzie overreact made Hope feel calmer. “Well, that’s a bit dramatic,” Hope said carefully.

Lizzie sighed again, dropping her hands. “It’s just true,” she asserted, with the utmost certainty. “I can already see that you and Jade are going to have to fight to the death to win Josie’s affection,” she continued. Lizzie gave Hope an appraising once-over. “You’ll win, obviously, but my Dad won’t like it.”

Hope scowled. “Josie is not a prize,” she snapped defensively, crossing her arms over her chest. “If she’s going to be with me, I want her to choose freely.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes, clearly not buying that at all. “Yeah, okay, Miss _you-didn’t-seem-very-concerned-while-it-was-happening_ ,” she drawled sarcastically.

Hope frowned. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she mumbled, slightly ashamed. She looked back over at Josie, who was still listening intently to whatever Jade was saying. _What the hell is taking them so long_ , she thought to herself.

Lizzie scoffed. “I disagree,” she said simply. “I think you should’ve said more.”

Hope scowled once again, more intensely this time. “Of course you do,” she snapped. Her eyes darted back over to Lizzie and narrowed, as though she were remembering something. “And I think _you_ should’ve said less,” she growled irritably. “Why the hell were you talking about my sketches like that? I thought the plan was for you to pretend not to know anything.”

Lizzie shrugged. “That’s exactly what I’m doing,” she said, infuriatingly calm. “If I stop taunting you, Josie will know that something is up immediately.”

Hope deflated at this explanation. She looked dead inside. “You’ve never been so obvious before, Lizzie,” she muttered, sounding like she had no hope that arguing would be effective. “And that’s saying something, considering you’ve literally abandoned us on a kayak.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes again. “Oh, calm down,” she said dismissively. “Just wait. Josie will drag you into a closet the second you leave this library, then you’ll be glad I brought it up.”

Hope clenched her jaw, giving Lizzie an unimpressed look. “Must you make a closet joke in every conversation we have?” she snapped.

Lizzie pursed her lips and shrugged. “Come out and I’ll stop,” she retorted.

Before Hope could reply, she was distracted by movement in the corner of her eye.

Josie stood and walked back over to their table with an unreadable expression on her face, leaving Jade behind. With a wave of her hand, all of the books on the table flew back onto the shelves. “I’m going to go get something to eat,” she stated curtly. 

Lizzie briefly glanced over her shoulder and nodded her acknowledgement before turning away and looking back in Hope’s direction. With Lizzie’s back turned, Josie gave Hope a meaningful look, and Hope got the message that she was supposed to follow.

Josie picked up her bag. “See you guys later,” she said, turning and walking out the door without looking back.

After watching Josie leave, Hope made eye contact with Lizzie once again. Lizzie was staring at her expectantly. “Well, hurry up,” Lizzie deadpanned when Hope didn’t get the message after a long pause. “You’re already in trouble, don’t keep her waiting.” 

Hope scowled, but she stood up and made her way toward the door despite it. 

When Hope got out of the library, she walked halfway down the hall without seeing Josie anywhere. She frowned, beginning to doubt herself – maybe Josie hadn’t wanted Hope to follow her at all; maybe it was all in Hope’s head.

Hope was moments away from giving up and just going to brood in her room when an arm suddenly reached out of a utility closet and pulled her inside.

Hope yelped, taken off guard. She was just about prepared to fight when she looked up and saw Josie staring at her with a raised eyebrow, her arms crossing over her chest.

Hope and Josie just stared at each other for a moment. “We’re in a closet,” Hope observed as soon as she recovered, in disbelief. Hope immediately resigned herself to never tell Lizzie about this.

Josie looked surprised that this was the first thing that Hope chose to say. She glanced around the closet, nodding and pursing her lips to acknowledge the irony before she looked back at Hope, serious once again. “Hope, do you know why I pulled you in here?” she asked, careful to keep the inflection out of her voice

Hope paled, feeling a wave of panic. The way Josie phrased the question reminded her a lot of the way a police officer had once asked her ‘ _do you know why I pulled you over?’_

Hope figured that pretending to be oblivious would not end well for her. “Yes,” she blurted out after briefly hesitating. “I’m sorry, I know I was rude,” she admitted, the words coming out in a frantic rush. “I – I’m not usually a jealous person, I swear, I just… I don’t know, I guess I want everyone to know you’re mine.” 

Hope’s eyes widened and she flinched violently the second she processed her own words. She stared intently down at her shoes with an ashamed pout, her next words barely audible. “Fuck, that sounded so possessive. That made things even worse, I’m sorry.”

Josie’s eyes softened at the remorse that was radiating off of Hope in waves. She sighed, dropping her arms from her chest. “It’s okay,” she said, the tension in the closet cutting off into nothing. Josie stepped forward, grabbing Hope’s hands and forcing her to look up. “I _am_ yours, Hope. I only have eyes for you, trust me.”

Hope’s lips parted in awe in response to Josie’s words, her heart fluttering in her chest. “I _do_ trust you. Of _course,_ I trust you,” Hope insisted. She was jittery and restless all of a sudden, her eyes darting around the closet as she avoided Josie’s gaze. “I guess the keeping-us-a-secret thing is just making me act weird. My wolf doesn’t like it,” she admitted quietly, shifting on her feet.

Josie frowned. “I didn’t know you were feeling that way,” she murmured in response. “Hope, look at me,” she said, squeezing Hope’s hand as an attempt to reassure her. Hope obeyed reluctantly, stilling and meeting Josie’s eye. Josie gave her a small smile. “I want people to know we’re together, too. It won’t be long, I promise. We’re nearly through the first week. We just need to hold out for a little while longer. Then, we can tell everyone.”

Hope nearly blurted out _Lizzie knows_. The sentence hovered on the tip of her tongue for the longest time. It seemed like it would be the right time to say it. 

Actually, it didn’t seem like the right time, not at all – but Hope didn’t think any other time would be the right time. 

Hope chanted the two words to herself in her head. _Lizzie knows, Lizzie knows, Lizzie knows._ Then she chanted, _Just say it_. She almost said it, too. Hope would’ve said it, if Josie hadn’t taken her extended silence as the end of the conversation. 

But then, Josie’s small smile was shifting into a smirk. “Soo,” Josie began, the word drawn out and teasing. She smirked wider, taking a step closer. “You draw me?”

Hope sputtered, her cheeks instantly flaming red. She forgot all about what she’d intended to say. She pouted after a moment, deflating with defeat. “Lizzie’s such a bitch,” she practically whined under her breath, staring down at her shoes.

Josie laughed. She stepped even closer, resting her hands against Hope’s hips and kissing her on the forehead. “You’re adorable,” she murmured.

Hope pouted, glaring at Josie defiantly. “That’s worse than cute,” she complained.

Josie just laughed again, and then she leaned in for a chaste kiss. 

It may or may not have gotten less chaste. Hope eventually forced herself to pull back, just because she realized that it would’ve been mortifying if their first time together was in a utility closet.

God forbid if Lizzie ever found out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go, idk what this chapter was but I hope you like it


	33. Defending

Alaric released a heavy sigh, dropping the resume he’d been holding back onto his desk.

He was looking for someone new to hire, so he had sent out a memo to just about every supernatural connection he could think of. He ended up with nearly 40 applicants.

None of them seemed good enough to replace Dorian _or_ Emma, in his opinion.

Besides, he was a bit reluctant to bring anybody new in. After all, it hadn’t exactly gone well when Clarke (disguised as Rupert Vardemus) replaced him as headmaster. 

Still, Alaric was trying to learn to delegate. That’s the lesson he’d received when Hope trapped him in the therapy simulation, after all.

Alaric couldn’t handle everything on his own, especially now that Dorian and Emma had left. It was simply too much, especially with the monster problem starting back up again. 

But he couldn’t rely on Hope anymore, either. Hope apparently thought that she had the authority to store him, a grown-ass adult, in a box during a crisis—even though his daughters’ lives were at stake. 

Hope was still a teenager, and yet somewhere along the way she seemed to have gotten the impression that she was the one who should make executive decisions. That needed to be dealt with—and, then, Hope needed to be replaced.

It was a bit difficult to replace someone as powerful as Hope Mikaelson. Alaric figured that if he hired a task force of at least five supernatural adults, it might be roughly equivalent.

It was just difficult to find those adults.

All of the applications were as bland as they possibly could be. Alaric also couldn’t help but be suspicious about the motives of the applicants. Most people wouldn’t be willing to come work at the most dangerous place in the world, after all.

In summary, it wasn’t going well.

Alaric was trying to make himself care about another unenthusiastic cover letter when there was a knock on the door.

Alaric paused, placing the letter face down on his desk. “Come in!” he called out, secretly a bit grateful for the interruption.

Josie walked in, giving Alaric a small smile as she closed the door behind her.

Alaric smiled back at her. She was a very welcome distraction.

Josie took a few tentative steps closer to him. “Hey, Dad,” she greeted with a little wave. “Can we talk?”

Alaric leaned back in his chair, relaxing a bit as he decided to take a break. “Sure, honey,” he replied. “What’s on your mind?”

Josie fiddled with her thumbs and avoided eye contact, apparently nervous. “I wanted to talk to you about Hope,” she admitted after a brief moment of hesitation.

Alaric raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Oh,” he said. “What about her?”

Josie cleared her throat, some of the nervous tension draining away from her shoulders as she steeled herself for what she was about to say. Her eyes fixated back on Alaric’s. “You hurt her feelings, Dad,” she stated bluntly.

Alaric raised his eyebrows even further for a moment, apparently taken aback by the accusation. He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, shifting in his seat uncomfortably but trying to remain composed. “Did she send you?” he asked, his voice tightly controlled.

Josie frowned at this response, apparently dissatisfied with it. “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “She wouldn’t do that. She doesn’t even realize that you hurt her feelings; she just thinks she’s mad.”

Alaric blinked, not really knowing how to respond. “Josie –”

“Hope cares about what you think of her,” Josie cut him off. She sounded irritated, now, and she was sporting a frustrated pout. “I mean, she’d never tell you that. She doesn’t _want_ to care. But she cares. And now she thinks that you look down on her.”

There was a long pause, in which Alaric just stared at Josie with his lips slightly parted in shock. He swallowed and blinked a few times, trying to muster up a response as his daughter continued to stare him down. “Josie, I was just trying to do what’s best for her,” he eventually said. “I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.”

Josie’s jaw clenched, her eyes hardening. “Well, has it occurred to you that maybe you didn’t express that very well?” she asked, sounding like she was fully prepared to argue. “Because Hope seems to think that you think she’s incapable.”

Alaric studied his daughter for a long moment, apparently uncertain of how to react to her uncharacteristic irritation. “That’s not what I meant,” he claimed, his voice steady and firm. “Obviously, that’s not what I meant. Of course, Hope is capable.”

Josie stared at him for a long moment, too, the tension in the room festering. “She told me that you called her a child,” she spat with an accusatory glare.

Alaric’s gaze faltered. He let out a heavy sigh. “Listen, Josie,” he began, his voice pleading with her to be reasonable. She just stared at him expectantly until he continued. “I don’t know why I said that. I know it was a bit harsh. I think I was just on edge after everything that happened, with Alyssa and the new monster. I wanted to make sure that Hope wouldn’t go anywhere near it.”

Josie barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. If he’d wanted Hope not to go near it, he shouldn’t have mentioned it at all. Telling Hope not to go near it was the surest way to send her straight to it. 

He should’ve known better.

Still, Josie knew that her Dad had no clue that Hope had made her way straight to the dungeon, and she wasn’t about to get her girlfriend in trouble. So, Josie decided to feign ignorance. “There’s a new monster?” she asked, trying to obscure the fact that she was impatient to get this part of the conversation over with.

Alaric’s eyes narrowed at the question, as though he’d suddenly realized who he was speaking to. “Yes, but I don’t want _you_ going anywhere near it, either,” he said sternly. “The thing’s dangerous. It nearly killed Alyssa Chang.”

Josie’s brow furrowed. That was new information. Hope had mentioned nothing about the monster almost _killing_ someone. Josie felt a chill go down her spine at just the thought of it, and she gulped. “Do you have any idea what it is?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Alaric admitted. He stared at Josie with a concerned frown. “Josie, I don’t want you getting involved.”

Josie sighed. “It’s not like I’m going to go talk to it, Dad,” she replied impatiently. “That doesn’t mean I can’t do some research to help.”

Alaric looked uncertain about this, but he nodded after a moment. “Alright, fine. You can look into it,” he relented. His eyes narrowed and he pointed at Josie with an accusatory finger. “But there better not be any _plotting_ or messing around before you tell me about it first.”

Josie figured that he was probably still upset about the fact that Hope and Lizzie saved her from the Necromancer without his input. She raised an eyebrow. “Deal,” she agreed. “So, what do we know about it, then?”

Alaric switched into problem-solving mode, ready to report the facts. “Not very much,” he answered with a frown. “It’s anthropomorphic. Its powers seem to be psychological. That’s why I don’t want Hope talking to it,” Alaric paused, glancing at Josie warily, as though he was worried that she’d get angry at what he said next. “Hope hasn’t had a great track record with the monsters that play mind games.”

Josie pursed her lips. She was unable to object to that, so she let it slide. “Did _you_ talk to it?” she inquired.

Alaric nodded. “Yes,” he answered. “After I found Alyssa and we managed to contain it.”

Josie raised a curious eyebrow. “Well, what did it say?”

Alaric frowned once again. “I can’t remember,” he said, glancing away. “It’s just a blur in my memory. I can only remember the feeling of being trapped. And it seemed like it knew what I was going to say before I said it.”

Alaric suddenly seemed very uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat, his eyes jumping around the room like he was on the verge of panicking. It reminded Josie of the way Hope had acted when they discussed the same topic.

Alaric cleared his throat and looked back at her. “Alyssa said something similar,” he said, his voice steadier than before. “She said it was like it was sucking out her soul when it attacked her. But that’s pretty much the only information we have to go on.”

Josie nodded. “I’ll see if I can find anything in the library,” she suggested.

“Okay,” Alaric said with a nod. “Keep me updated.”

Alaric seemed to interpret that as the end of the conversation. He was already picking up the cover letter and looking down at it again before he finished his sentence.

Josie took his cue and turned to leave, but she hesitated in the doorway. “Oh, and Dad?” she called out over her shoulder. She waited for Alaric to look up at her to speak again. “Apologize to Hope,” she commanded, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Alaric studied her for a long moment before he raised an eyebrow. “You really care about Hope, don’t you?” he asked.

Josie blushed a bit, taken aback by the accusation. But then she just stared at him, her expression very serious. “Yeah,” she replied simply. “I do.”

Josie turned and left before Alaric could say anything more—not that he knew what to say, anyway.

* * *

Landon was significantly more confident at the top of the staircase than he was when he got to the bottom of it.

He felt like he was a character in a horror movie. 

Normally, he’d be the first to turn back in a situation like this. Some might call that cowardice, but he considered it self-preservation. 

Because it wasn’t normal, the way his vision was curling in at the edges. It wasn’t normal, the way that he felt like he was about to be eaten.

But Landon was trying his hardest not to be who he was. 

If Landon was trying to be who he was, he would’ve already turned back. If Landon was trying to be who he was, he wouldn’t have come down here in the first place.

He was only here to prove Hope wrong. (Maybe then she’d give him the time of day.)

From Landon’s perspective, Hope seemed to have changed her mind about him out of nowhere. It’s not that he hadn’t been expecting her to—he had, in fact, been waiting for her to realize that she was too good for him the whole time they were together. 

The breakup still somehow took him off guard.

It mostly surprised him because he thought that he would be able to talk her out of it. He’d successfully talked her out of her dreams, and he'd successfully talked her out of the doubts she had after she went into the therapy box—or so he thought. 

But she broke up with him, anyway. And then, they were both swept up in the chaos of Dark Josie. And then, Landon was in a coma.

When Hope broke up with him, Landon convinced himself that she wasn’t serious. It had been pretty easy for him to convince her to stay with him in the past, after all. He thought that this would be similar – that once things settled down, they’d go back to normal.

He thought that the only reason she’d been having doubts was because she had herself convinced that he was going to die.

So, he thought that things would go right back to normal when he survived.

But when he woke up from his coma, Hope seemed to not want anything to do with him.

Landon wasn’t ready to give up yet. He had told Hope before that he’d fight to make her change her mind if she chose to leave him. And that’s exactly what he intended to do, whatever the cost.

He didn’t really think it would involve him going down to the dungeon and trying to scope out some mystery monster to prove himself. But if that’s what Hope wanted him to do, that’s what he’d do.

Hope was his epic love, after all. He wasn’t just going to _let her go_.

So, here he was, on his way to scope out a monster and prove that he was useful. 

He must’ve considered turning back a hundred times by the time he made it to the holding cell. He didn’t like the way the hall was darker than it should be, like he had tunnel vision. He didn’t like the way the air felt so heavy.

But he convinced himself that it was all in his head and kept charging forward.

He almost pissed himself when he finally caught sight of the thing. It looked a bit like a sickly orc, to him. It was a discolored green, and muscular in all of the wrong places.

It looked like a magnified Gollum, he realized, when he thought about it again. 

In fact, it looked like an unfortunate mix of every fantasy creature he could think of that was known for being ugly. And what made it worse was that it was animated, pacing around the cell like a rabid dog, muttering to itself.

Landon nearly gave up and ran away before it had even noticed his presence.

But then, it did notice his presence. It turned excruciatingly slowly to look at him, and Landon was instantly paralyzed.

The thing’s beady eyes fixated on him intensely. Its chapped lips curled up into a dangerous smirk, as though it were pleased to see him. “Landon Kirby,” it hissed, its voice coming across more like a distorted gargle.

Landon gulped, his eyes widening with fear. He began to feel nauseous, but he fought back against it and tried to seem unbothered. It didn’t exactly work—he looked pale, like he might pass out at any moment. “How do you know my name?” he asked, nearly succeeding at sounding confident until his voice cracked on the last word.

It took the thing a minute to respond. It seemed to momentarily put all of its energy into taking a few shaky steps toward the cell bars. “It’s elementary, really,” it spat out with a taunting laugh. “You are exactly as I expected you’d be.”

Landon frowned at that, since it didn’t effectively answer his question. “ _You’re_ not what I expected you’d be,” he fired back, despite the fact that there was an obvious bead of sweat forming on his forehead. “You’re way worse.”

The monster wrapped its gnarled hands around the cell bars, its gaze growing even more intense as it seemed to try to get as close to Landon as possible. “Blame your friends for that. They use the term _monster_ too loosely,” it drawled. It laughed, again, as though thinking of an inside joke it had with itself. “And, yet, somehow, not loosely enough.”

Landon’s frown deepened. That response made no more sense than the last one. “Oh, great,” he replied with a nervous chuckle, his eyes darting around the cell to avoid the thing’s gaze. “You must be here to deliver another cryptic prophecy.”

The monster scowled, which somehow made it look even uglier. Landon’s comment had apparently infuriated it for whatever reason. “I am no prophet, Landon Kirby. _Fate_ bows to _me_ ,” it growled, shaking with anger, so much so that the bars of the cell began to rattle. It stilled, suddenly, the fury blinking out of existence so quickly that Landon was disoriented. “Sorry to disappoint you,” it continued. It now sounded quite pleased with itself. “I know that you are fond of prophecies. That must be why you write your own.”

Landon tried to understand what the monster was saying for a moment, his face contorting with confusion. The attempt seemed to amuse the monster, because it cackled maniacally. After a moment, Landon gave up. “Uh,” he grunted, frustrated and beginning to get an inexplicable headache. “If you don’t want to be accused of being a prophet, you really shouldn’t talk so much just to say nothing.”

The monster’s eyes narrowed in on Landon, its shoulders taut and hunched as though it were prepared to strike. “And how would you have me speak, Mr. Kirby?” it drawled. “Like _you?”_

Landon was struck by a sudden, intense migraine. It came on so abruptly that he stumbled backward a few steps, clutching at his head.

The monster cocked its head to the side, breathing in deeply as its eyes became glazed and distant. “You speak so much, but you never speak the truth. All that you say is _empty,”_ it accused. It seemed to frown to itself, as though it were disappointed by what it was saying. “You fail to realize how your dissonant actions neuter your speech.”

Landon suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. He felt uncomfortably hot, beads of sweat gathering on his forehead and making their way down his back. 

The monster let out a sickening, cruel laugh as it watched him. “Your compulsory loyalty, your false promises—they reflect more upon your fear of rejection than they reflect upon the strength of your love,” it claimed, its voice now packed with joy like it had just made an exciting revelation. “You are merely a sycophant, begging for a place in the lives of those you admire without believing that you deserve one.”

Landon practically cowered in the corner of the room, burying his head in his hands, but there was simply no escaping it. The migraine was excruciating now, as if his brain were being dissected.

The monster wasn’t done with him. “Your prophecies are self-fulfilling. You believe that your relationships will collapse the moment you’re exposed as what you are,” it said matter-of-factly. It let out an excited giggle and sharply clapped its hands together before it spoke again. “A monster, like me!” it called, bursting with enthusiasm.

The monster deflated, staring at him without seeing him. It was puzzled for only a moment before realization seemed to dawn on it. “For all of your words of devotion, you take it upon yourself to undermine what might be stable. You seek to undermine it before it inevitably falls out from under you, for then you can believe that it was your choice instead of facing the evidence of your failure,” the monster hissed, all in one breath. “You wouldn’t lose the affections of those around you if you did not discard them, but you discard them as a precaution—that makes it impossible for them to leave you.”

The monster laughed sadistically. “How unfortunate, for those who love you,” it drawled, now mocking Landon even as Landon slid down the wall to the floor, drained of all his energy. “To be undermined—to be discarded.”

The monster twitched suddenly, slamming into the bars of the cell. They rattled harshly, causing Landon to flinch. “But you don’t believe in their love. You assume that their confessions are as empty as your own,” the monster practically sang with a pleased smile. “You don’t trust anyone, and yet you find it intolerable when others distrust you in turn. You demand empathy of others, even though you lack it yourself. You’d blame just about anyone but yourself—you are comfortable in the role of a victim; you will always believe yourself to be the victim, even when no one seeks to harm you.”

Landon seemed to be trying to escape by shrinking back into himself. He was sweating profusely, now, and crying a little bit, too.

The monster’s eyes abruptly became less glazed and more present. Landon felt his migraine slightly recede, and he sighed in relief.

The monster gave him only a moment to recover before lunging for the bars once again. “I’m no prophet,” it growled, once again furious. “For some I am a devil; for some I am a godsend. But I’ve spoken to men like you before, Mr. Kirby, and I am not your angel. Don’t ask me for clarity when you intend to look away. It’s a waste of time for the both of us.”

Landon didn’t even look at it, still breathing heavily in a heap on the ground.

“Pathetic,” the monster spat at him, its voice filled with hatred and disgust. With a wave of its hand, Landon was pulled to his feet. The pain was wiped off of his face and his expression was rendered blank as every muscle in his body tensed.

The monster’s eyes glowed red just before it spoke. "You are right to think that Hope has grown tired of you," it began. Its voice morphed into something deep and demonic, suddenly channeling more than one entity. "You are merely a burden to her, as you are to everyone else. She will not give you the time of day unless you _force_ her to." 

The monster breathed in deep and continued on an exhale. “If Hope won’t speak to you, you must gather information elsewhere. Speak to Josie,” it commanded. “Ask her what is wrong with Hope. Tell her I claimed that she would know, because of what Hope has told me.”

The monster waved its hand once again, its eyes reverting to their normal color—if _empty_ could be considered a color. Landon collapsed back onto the floor. 

Landon stayed there for a long while, until the monster let out an impatient growl that forced him to rise to his feet. Then, he stumbled out of the dungeon toward his room, forgetting all that was said on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bitch to write, idk why. I hope it turned out decent.
> 
> We're getting close to the end. There's going to be at least 4 or 5 more chapters, though (maybe slightly more). 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	34. Interrogating

Josie was avoiding Lizzie.

Lizzie hadn’t really done anything specific to warrant it. Josie was just finding it a lot more difficult to talk to her lately—mostly on account of the fact that all Lizzie seemed to want to talk about anymore was Hope.

Hope, Josie’s secret girlfriend.

It was getting more and more difficult for Josie to keep their relationship a secret. Every time Lizzie referred to the tribrid, Josie felt a little bit more guilty for not telling her. 

But, as Josie explained to Hope, telling Lizzie was essentially the same as telling everyone. Just off of the top of her head, Josie could think of about half a dozen times where Lizzie had accidentally revealed a secret.

The way that Lizzie spoke to Josie about Hope was proof in and of itself. Lizzie had absolutely no filter, and even less concern for boundaries. She had already (on more than one occasion) tried to tell Josie what Hope had written about her in her diary.

And, as curious as Josie was, Lizzie had _no_ business reading Hope’s diary. 

Lizzie had even _less_ business telling Josie about it. 

So, Josie covered her ears and sang to block it all out.

But Lizzie was relentless. Even when she wasn’t trying to force Josie to understand how in love Hope was (which, admittedly, was very endearing), she still managed to somehow bend the conversation in that direction.

Exhibit A was when Lizzie asked Josie _“What did Jade Whatever-her-last-name-is want from you yesterday?”_ Lizzie was already pinning Josie with an accusatory glare before Josie could explain that she had politely rejected the vampire’s advances. It was as though Lizzie had caught Josie cheating.

Josie felt like it was absurd for more than one reason.

Keeping her relationship with Hope a secret was really starting to seem like more trouble than it was worth. 

But, Josie tried to remind herself, it was for Landon. The more time he had to process his breakup with Hope, the less finding out about Hope’s relationship with Josie would sting. (Hopefully.)

And keeping it from Landon meant keeping it from Lizzie for the time being, so Josie simply had to avoid her.

Josie had more important things to focus on, anyway. There was still a mystery monster in the basement, after all, and it had made Hope cry. 

No one was allowed to make Hope cry on Josie’s watch.

Dealing with it unfortunately required Josie to mend fences with someone she’d rather not interact with at all.

That’s how Josie found herself in the cafeteria, sliding into the seat across from Alyssa Chang before she even got her own lunch. 

Alyssa stilled, her fork freezing in its trajectory toward her salad. Her eyes darted up to look at Josie, steeled and unreadable.

Josie didn’t think that it was a very good sign, but she’d already committed to initiating the conversation at that point, so she carried on. “Hey,” she said simply.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “Hey,” she drawled. “Here to deck me in the face again?”

Josie flinched slightly, frowning. “No,” she replied, sounding a bit defensive. Josie considered apologizing, but then she remembered (with a flicker of annoyance) that Alyssa had kind of deserved it. “I just wanted to ask you about the monster,” she opted to say instead.

Alyssa sighed, her tense expression dropping into one of disinterest. “Ask,” she ordered simply. She glanced down at her plate and stabbed her salad.

“Uh, okay,” Josie said, surprised that Alyssa was being so cooperative. “Well, did you talk to it?”

Alyssa let out a dark chuckle and looked back up with another raised eyebrow. “Yeah, before it killed me,” she deadpanned.

Josie flinched once again. “Uh, yeah,” she began. “My Dad mentioned that.”

Alyssa shrugged, as though her near-death experience was no big deal. “It’s not that easy to get rid of me, though, as it turns out,” she said absentmindedly, like she was commenting on the weather. “I might hold the record for death around here pretty soon, if only that garden gnome you call an ex-boyfriend would stop dying for a couple weeks.”

Josie just blinked a few times, her lips parting even as no words escaped her mouth. She didn’t quite know what to say to that. 

Alyssa pursed her lips when Josie failed to respond, apparently deep in thought. “The universe really should’ve chosen someone with better genetics to be exempt from natural selection, don’t you think?”

Josie opened her mouth to protest, but then she snapped it shut again. 

She’d promised Hope that she wouldn’t fight with Alyssa, after all. This certainly wasn’t going to be the subject she’d break that promise for.

“Do you remember anything the monster said?” Josie asked with a tight smile, opting to change the topic.

“No, not really,” Alyssa admitted. “I don’t think it said much. It felt almost like it forced me to talk. But I can’t remember what I said, either.”

Josie frowned, slightly disappointed that Alyssa wasn’t providing her with any new information. “Do you remember anything else?” she prompted, a bit desperate for a lead to go on. “Maybe a feeling you had? Or something it did?”

Alyssa glanced to the side and her eyes glazed over slightly, like she was immersed in a memory. “It knew what I was thinking,” she said, her voice fairly neutral. “And it felt like there was no escape. Like it would be in the way no matter how I tried to get out, because it knew my plans the second I thought of them. Nothing was private from it. It knew what was in my head just as much as I did—maybe even more.”

Josie had been gradually leaning closer over the course of Alyssa's monologue, completely invested in what Alyssa was saying. Then, the glazed-over look abruptly faded from Alyssa’s eyes and she looked back at Josie. 

Josie flinched backward, clearing her throat and trying to act more... normal. 

Alyssa seemed unconcerned—bored, even. “Then, it grabbed me, and it felt a bit like it was sucking out my soul,” she explained. She didn’t seem upset about it whatsoever. Her tone was totally apathetic, as usual. “Then, I died. Definitely the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Uh…,” Josie trailed off, feeling incredibly awkward about the casual way Alyssa had just delivered that information. “Wow. I... I'm really sorry you had to go through that.”

Alyssa shrugged nonchalantly, as though she was completely indifferent to it. “Is that all you wanted to know?” she asked.

Josie blinked. “Um, yes,” she replied. She glanced at Alyssa warily, as though she were still waiting for Alyssa to lash out, even though they'd somehow made it through the interrogation without a hitch. “I have to say, you were a lot more cooperative than I expected you to be, considering how things went the last time we saw each other.”

Alyssa sighed, apparently irritated by the reminder. “Yeah, well,” she started. “It’s in the spirit of our truce, I guess.”

Josie blinked. “Our what?” she asked with a confused frown.

Alyssa’s brow furrowed. She frowned back at Josie, but then she seemed to have a realization. “What, your girlfriend didn’t even tell you?” she asked, her frown dropping into a scowl.

This only served to make Josie more confused. It didn’t even occur to her to deny that Hope was her girlfriend. “Tell me what?” she asked slowly, obviously lost.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “That I requested a truce,” she elaborated, as though it should be obvious.

Josie just stared at Alyssa blankly, dumbfounded.

Alyssa scoffed, Josie’s silence making the answer to her question clear. “I can’t believe she didn’t even tell you,” she spat with an even deeper scowl. “I specifically told her to tell you so that you wouldn’t try to murder me again.”

Josie ignored the latter half of Alyssa’s comment, too confused by the general point of the conversation. “Wait, wait. When did you and Hope forge a truce?” she asked, astounded.

“The night you punched me,” Alyssa answered, her tone sharp and impatient. “After I apologized.”

This only exacerbated Josie’s confusion. “ _You_ apologized?” she echoed, in total disbelief.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. Josie’s reaction was pretty much the same as Hope’s. They really were made for each other. “This is why I told her to tell you, so that I wouldn’t have to repeat myself,” she hissed, irritated. “I told her that the things I said about her Dad were out of line, even for me, and that I didn’t know why I said them. Then, we agreed not to kill each other, and she told me that she’d tell you. Apparently, she didn’t follow through with that.”

This was news to Josie, who just sat their staring at Alyssa with her jaw slack.

Alyssa scowled again. “Which presumably means that you easily could've assaulted me again at any point since. So, I'm glad we finally cleared that up,” she drawled sarcastically. “Anyway, as riveting as this conversation was, I have somewhere to be.”

Alyssa had barely finished her sentence before she was standing up from the table, grabbing her tray and walking away. Josie only briefly wondered if Alyssa was lying about having somewhere to be before her mind became completely preoccupied with other questions.

Questions such as; why hadn’t Hope told her about the truce?

Josie couldn’t really think of a reason that Hope wouldn’t want her to know about it. She figured that maybe it was a fluke—that Hope had just forgotten about it altogether.

Still, it was sort of an important thing for Josie to know about. This whole time, Josie had been thinking that Alyssa was a total bitch, and that she had no remorse for what she’d said about Hope’s father. Worse, Josie had suspected that Alyssa might try to retaliate at any moment.

Josie decided to ask Hope about it later. 

Then, Josie realized that she might be able to find Hope and ask her about it immediately. It was lunch hour, after all.

Assuming that Josie would be able to find Hope, that is. Hope occasionally ate in the cafeteria, ever since the Dark Josie debacle, but she was oftentimes unpredictable.

Josie glanced around the room, hoping to catch sight of the tribrid. She frowned, craning her neck and twisting in her seat a bit when she had no luck.

She was about to spin around and search behind her when Landon plopped down where Alyssa had been sitting previously.

Josie jumped, nearly falling out of her chair in surprise. 

It took Josie a moment to register the fact that Landon was now in front of her. 

She frowned. Lizzie wasn’t the only person she’d been trying to avoid. 

Not that Landon was trying to seek her out, though. He hadn’t really spoken to her once since the Dark Josie situation, with the exception of the time he’d accidentally bumped into her when he came to Hope’s room.

Josie cleared her throat awkwardly. “Oh,” she said, trying to seem friendly. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Landon replied. He looked a little bit frantic, like he couldn’t wait to get the greeting over with. “Can we talk?”

Josie watched him carefully, not really sure what to expect. “Uh, sure, I guess,” she agreed after a moment, trying to act normal. “About what?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Landon said, staring at Josie with a strange intensity.

Josie resisted the urge to shrink in her seat. She swallowed thickly and gave him a short nod to encourage him to elaborate.

Landon took in a deep breath, steeling himself for whatever he was about to say. “What’s wrong with Hope?” he practically barked on an exhale.

Josie blinked, her eyes widening slightly at the question. She cleared her throat and glanced away, awkwardly shifting in her seat. “What do you mean?” she asked, her throat already feeling tight.

Landon’s eyes narrowed, as though he suspected that Josie knew exactly what he meant and was just playing dumb. “She’s been avoiding me,” he muttered, resentment shining through in his voice.

Josie blinked, feeling even more awkward. “Uh, I don’t know, Landon,” she replied. “I feel like you should be asking Hope about this, not me.”

Landon sighed miserably, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’ve tried, but she won’t talk to me,” he whined with a frown. “She was really mean about it a couple of days ago, actually. It wasn’t like her at all. So, I went down to talk to the monster—”

“Wait, you _what?_ ” Josie interrupted, alarmed.

“I went down to talk to the monster,” he repeated. He didn't seem to find anything wrong with the statement. “Hope mentioned it, she basically told me to. And when I asked about her, it told me that she talked a lot about you.”

Josie recoiled, alarmed. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out of it. “What?” she eventually asked, her eyes wide. “Did it say what she said about me?”

Landon shrugged, shaking his head. “It wouldn’t tell me much,” he admitted. “It just said that it wasn’t my business. But it told me that you’d know what was wrong with Hope, if I asked you.”

Josie swallowed thickly, her brow furrowing as her gaze fixated between where her hands were splayed out on the table. 

Josie didn’t like the sound of that—not at all. Her knuckles turned white, her fingers flexing against the wood of the table. 

Her mind started running through all of the possible things that Hope might’ve told the monster about her.

“So?” Landon prompted impatiently when Josie failed to respond for too long. “What’s wrong with her?”

Josie snapped out of it, her eyes darting back up to stare at him. She snapped back into reality, and then she sighed. She was in no mood to entertain this conversation anymore—not after what she’d just learned. She just needed to go think.

“Look, Landon,” Josie said slowly, trying to remain patient and respectful. “I’m not comfortable talking about this with you.”

Landon frowned. “What?” he replied, apparently very displeased by her reluctance to talk about it. “Why not?”

Josie bit her lip and glanced away, not sure how to explain herself in a way that Landon would accept. “I just don’t think you should get me involved in whatever issue you’re having with Hope, okay?” she settled on. She realized a moment too late that she’d failed to keep the irritation out of her voice, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She’d already tried and failed to end the conversation twice. “It’s weird.”

Landon scowled. “How is it weird?” he asked, a challenge in his voice. “You guys are friends, right? Doesn’t she talk to you about me?”

Josie’s jaw ticked. “I mean, even if she did, I don’t think it would be right for me to just tell you those things without her permission,” she snapped.

Josie knew that her anger was a bit disproportionate. Really, she just was feeling a bit protective of her girlfriend (and maybe a tiny bit jealous, too). 

Landon asserting that she and Hope were ‘ _friends’_ wasn’t doing much to help that.

In terms of patience, Josie was running on empty. She knew she had to get out of the conversation now, whether Landon was going to let her end it or not. Otherwise, he might end up on fire.

Landon didn’t look too happy now, either. Her response seemed to have infuriated him, in fact. Josie realized that he wasn’t going to give up on the conversation any time soon, whether or not she was willing to have it. So, she moved to stand up and leave before things could get out of hand.

Landon grabbed Josie’s wrist before she could stand, pinning it to the table between them. Josie found herself trapped, the force of his grip causing her to fall right back into her seat.

Josie’s eyes widened as she stared at where he had trapped her hand, in complete disbelief. His grip was hard—bruising, even. “Landon,” she said quietly when she looked back up, pleading with him to be reasonable.

“I just don’t get why everyone keeps blowing me off!” Landon practically shouted. He was fuming, at this point. He was starting to draw attention to himself, actually—the students sitting at the tables closest to them halted mid-conversation, turning to stare at them warily.

Josie’s eyes widened even further. She had never seen Landon act this way before. It was a little bit scary. 

Josie swallowed thickly and attempted to reign in the shock that was showing all over her face. She remembered that Landon’s only power was to come back to life. 

At the end of the day, Josie was a powerful witch. Landon’s anger might be making her uncomfortable, but he wasn’t a threat to her.

Josie steeled herself. “Landon, let me go,” she commanded, her voice firm and vaguely threatening.

Landon glared, the fury not receding from his expression despite her warning. He made no move to let her go and just stared her down for a long pause. Then, he opened his mouth to reply.

“What the fuck’s going on here?”

For a moment, Josie was incredibly disoriented. Because although Landon had just opened his mouth to speak, that voice was not Landon’s.

It was Hope’s.

And it wasn't coming out of Landon's mouth, either—it was booming over Josie's shoulder.

It took Josie a moment to put two-and-two together, but, when she did, she spun around in her chair and looked behind her.

Hope only made eye contact with Josie for a split second. Then, her eyes scanned over Josie briefly, as though Hope was checking to make sure that she was okay. Her eyes then darted back to Landon and transitioned to solid gold in an instant, pinning him with the most terrifying glare Josie had ever seen in her life. 

It was as though the glare caused a shockwave. The tension in the room skyrocketed, and every pair of eyes in the room turned to stare at Hope. The entire cafeteria fell silent, to the point where Hope's furious, rapid breathing was the only sound Josie could hear.

Landon was apparently out of his goddamn mind, because he attempted to glare back at Hope. Hope stared him down until his gaze faltered. He glanced down at the table, where he was still pinning Josie's hand to the table. Then he looked back up at Hope, his glare much weaker than before.

This was not the right thing to do. “Did you not hear her?” Hope growled dangerously through clenched teeth, her head cocking to the side sharply as her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. She took a threatening step closer. “Let. Her. Go.”

Landon was still attempting to stand his ground, but his bravado was clearly fake. It was also stupid. Josie was afraid _for_ him.

He wasn't the stupidest person in the world, though, because he did choose to let go of Josie's wrist. Josie cradled it to her chest, rubbing it where it felt tender. She glanced down at it.

There would definitely be a bruise.

But that was a problem for another time. There was a crisis to be averted, now. Hope only seemed slightly calmer now that Landon had released Josie. She was still obviously infuriated.

Josie had seen the look on her face before.

It was the same look Hope had aimed at Alyssa when they argued in the Old Mill. 

Except this time, it was worse.

Josie gulped. Uh oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! :)  
> The next chapter will be a lot


	35. Yelling

Hope Mikaelson couldn’t remember the last time she felt so angry.

And that was saying something. Hope sort of had anger issues, sometimes. She had come very close to killing Alyssa Chang more than once in the past month.

And, yet, that somehow still couldn’t compare to how furious she felt now.

Landon broke eye contact with her after a long moment, but it was only to look back at Josie, who was still sitting in the chair across from him. 

Suddenly, Hope understood why Josie had lit Penelope on fire a year or two ago. She understood all too well. The incantation echoed in Hope’s head— _Ignalusa_ —while she stared Landon down. It would be so easy. 

And well-deserved, in Hope’s opinion. How _dare_ he lay a hand on Josie.

Landon scowled and rose to his feet, his glare trained back on Hope. “Oh, so _now_ you’re talking to me?” he spat out resentfully.

Hope figured that he must have a death wish, or something. That was the only explanation. She couldn’t understand why else he would be acting so bold despite the fact that she was fully prepared to light him on fire.

He was acting _too_ bold. Suddenly he was stomping around the table to get closer. Hope angled herself toward him and stepped between him and Josie, as though she thought he was planning to attack the siphoner or something.

That wasn’t his intention, though—in fact, he wasn’t paying attention to Josie at all anymore. He was focused entirely on Hope, his fists clenched at his sides.

Josie also wasn’t paying much attention to Landon. She was staring intently at Hope, though the tribrid now had her back turned. Josie spun around in her chair to face her, remaining seated. “Hope,” she whispered, her voice firm and steady. “Relax.”

By some miracle, Josie’s command worked a little bit. Hope took her eyes off of Landon for a moment and glanced back at Josie. It seemed to ground her a bit—she blinked, and some of the fury receded from her eyes.

Hope marveled at the fact that Josie had such power over her. The brunette only had to say one word, and suddenly Hope was able to put a lid on her anger, even though just moments earlier she’d been ready to allow it to overtake her.

Then, Landon started speaking. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here,” he started, addressing Hope. “This is the first time I’ve gotten you alone without your girlfriend.”

Hope whipped around at that, the comment taking her off guard. She tried to stop herself from looking too panicky. “My _what?”_ she blurted out.

Weirdly, Hope heard her words echo. She realized a moment later that Josie had said, “Her _what?”_ in perfect unison. Hope didn’t dare turn to look at her. Josie’s reaction was already suspicious enough.

Landon gave Hope a look, as though it should be obvious who he had been referring to. “Lizzie,” he elaborated matter-of-factly.

Hope didn’t know whether to feel relieved or horrified. Her anger receded into background noise as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet, resisting the urge to turn around and observe Josie’s reaction. “Landon, Lizzie is _not_ my girlfriend,” she asserted awkwardly.

“Good,” he replied instantly. “You’re still single, then.”

Hope blinked, disoriented. _No_ , she wanted to say. 

But she remained silent. He was the reason her relationship with Josie was a secret, after all. 

Hope wondered if he’d truly believed that Lizzie was her girlfriend at all, with how swiftly he moved on from it. 

Landon crossed his arms over his chest, apparently bracing himself to try to look confident. “I want to win you back, Hope,” he stated simply.

Hope bristled at the force behind his words, her eyes narrowing. “Well, I’m not interested, Landon,” she replied through clenched teeth, her earlier anger starting to resurface. “I thought I made that clear. I’d say we should be friends, but not if you’re going to keep acting like this.”

Landon scoffed, as though the idea of that was ridiculous. “Friends?” he huffed out, like the word was disgusting. “We were never _friends_.”

Hope frowned. She wished that she could say that Landon’s claim angered her, but, in truth, it only hurt her. She felt a pang of sadness in her chest and glanced away from him, crossing her own arms over her chest defensively.

Landon seemed to realize his mistake. “Never _just_ friends, I mean,” he blurted out to cover it up. 

Hope couldn't determine if he was being genuine. She got the sense that he would say whatever he thought she wanted to hear. “Don’t say that like it’s a good thing,” she replied irritably. She hated the fact that she was feeling a bit upset, now. She just wanted to be angry again. “Maybe that’s what was missing,” she muttered.

Now that Hope’s anger had settled down a bit, she quickly realized that nearly every pair of eyes in the room were on them. Some of the students were trying to hide the fact that they were staring, but others had no shame about it. 

Hope squirmed uncomfortably under the attention, resisting the urge to just run out of the cafeteria and wolf out to discharge her anger.

“What do you mean, that’s what was _missing?”_ Landon said, apparently offended. He didn’t seem to have noticed that they were making a spectacle of themselves—either that or he didn’t care. “Nothing was _missing_ until you decided to hop into Malivore and leave me behind.”

Hope instantly scowled at this, her eyes darting back to look at Landon and narrowing into a glare. “Don’t talk to me about leaving people behind,” she practically growled, her eyes flashing gold as a warning. “ _You_ don’t get to talk about leaving people behind.”

Landon blinked, but he seemed to realize that accusing her further wouldn’t end well for him. “Alright, fine, I’ve made some mistakes,” he said dismissively, not ultimately sounding that apologetic about it. “But I won’t leave you behind this time. I promised you I’d fight to make you change your mind. I wasn’t kidding.”

Hope tensed. “I don’t _want_ you to change my mind, Landon,” she retorted. “I happen to think that I made the right decision.”

Hope glanced around the room warily, reluctant to be discussing these things in front of a crowd of people. The whole situation was making her feel very self-conscious. She wanted to shut the whole conversation down—she was feeling a bit overwhelmed and exposed. She was worried that she’d lose control of herself if Landon said the wrong thing.

But Hope wasn’t about to leave Josie alone with him—not with the way Landon had been treating Josie before she got there. Hope stayed firmly rooted to her spot.

Landon was staring at her, apparently dumbfounded by the fact that Hope wasn’t seeing things his way. “So, what, you’re just going to throw it all away?” he accused with a scowl. “Everything we’ve been through, and you won’t even give me another chance?”

Hope scowled back at him. “Don’t act like I never gave you chances,” she snapped.

Landon scoffed. “It seems like you’re finding it pretty easy to just dismiss me right now,” he replied.

Hope’s nostrils flared, her knuckles going white from the vice grip she had on her elbows. She took a deep, steadying breath, trying to remain calm. “You aren’t listening,” she said after a moment, less accusatory and more matter of fact.

“I _am_ listening,” Landon argued petulantly, throwing his hands up in the air to exhibit his frustration. “You just need to tell me what I did wrong, so that I can fix it.”

Hope released an exasperated sigh. “You can’t fix it, Landon,” she replied, her irritation overshadowing her discomfort. “And you can’t expect me to just keep letting you back in when all you do is run away, for that matter.”

Landon tensed. “If I ever _ran away_ , it’s because I wasn’t wanted here,” he claimed.

Hope scoffed. Everything he said was just making her feel more and more furious at this point. She was finding it difficult to care much about the audience anymore. “All I ever _wanted_ was for you to stay,” she hissed. “But you leave when I tell you to stay. You only stay when I tell you to leave when you’re in danger; when I try to protect you. It would be _stupid_ of me to be as attached to you now as I was when we first got together—I’d just be setting myself up for failure.”

Landon let out a mocking laugh. It made Hope want to punch him in the face. “Why can’t you just admit that this is less about me and more about the fact that _you_ have trust issues?”

Hope tensed like a bowstring, a warning growl bursting from her lips that made Landon flinch. Hope got a sick sense of satisfaction from the uncertainty that flashed through his eyes. She stared at him for a long pause, breathing heavily and allowing the silence to fester as she tried to rein herself in. “Yeah, okay. It’s hard for me to trust people,” she said eventually, her voice slow and measured. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that you’re just dragging up the past so that you can have an excuse not to trust me,” Landon claimed. “I haven’t left since we got back together, but you’re never going to let me live it down.”

Hope’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not like getting back together put us back at square one,” she said slowly, her voice hushed and restrained like she was just now trying to keep everyone in the cafeteria from hearing it. The low volume somehow made her seem more dangerous. “Making up doesn’t just erase the past, Landon. It’s not that easy.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Hope,” Landon replied. “It _is_ that easy. Things wouldn’t be as fucked up as they are now if you’d just let yourself forgive me.” 

Hope scowled, her eyes darkening. “You’re not the one who gets to decide who I do and don’t forgive,” she snapped. His comment seemed to really set her off—her face went pale, her eyes furious and full of fire. “And don’t tell me it should be _easy_ to go back to how things were. That’s bullshit. I tried to just go back to how things were, but everything’s different. I had to watch you move on. With _Josie_. You can’t expect me to get over all of that and act like nothing happened within a few weeks.”

Landon scoffed. “You act like it’s _my_ fault you jumped into Malivore,” he said.

Hope recoiled, her brow furrowing like she couldn’t understand how he got that out of what she’d said. “That isn’t what I meant,” she replied, sounding almost confused.

“Good,” Landon replied angrily, not a moment after she finished her sentence. “Because I’m not the one who jumped in there.”

That reply did nothing to alleviate Hope’s confusion. She frowned. It almost sounded like—“Wait, are you trying to say that it’s _my_ fault?” she asked, in disbelief.

Landon didn’t reply, but Hope knew his answer just by the way he continued to glare at her.

Hope laughed humorlessly. She took a threatening step toward him. “Are you serious?” she asked, her voice low and disbelieving. She scoffed when he didn’t reply. “I thought it was the only way, Landon. Do you not even realize how hard that was for me?”

Landon raised an eyebrow. “It seemed pretty easy for you to snap my neck,” he spat resentfully, crossing his arms over his chest again.

Hope gaped at him for a moment, unable to process what he was saying. “I didn’t just _snap your neck_ , Landon,” she hissed sharply. “I jumped into a fucking _hell dimension_. Because I thought that it was the only way the people I cared about would be able to live happy lives. Lives where they wouldn’t have to worry about the world ending every day.”

Hope grew even more furious when Landon just stared at her blankly, unimpressed.

“I didn’t do it because it sounded fun, Landon!” she shouted, no longer caring about keeping her composure. “I jumped into a fucking hell dimension, knowing that I wouldn’t be remembered by anyone I loved, _for you_ ,” she spat furiously, throwing her hands in the air. “And for Josie. And for Lizzie, and MG, and everyone else.”

Landon shrugged, a smug look on his face. “You know what, Hope, I think it was a lot easier for you to make that decision than you let on,” he said, infuriatingly calm. Hope felt her blood start to boil while she waited for Landon to continue. “You already thought that it was how things would end. That’s why you’ve never had friends. You keep everyone at a distance because you expect that you’ll have to martyr yourself eventually. That’s why even when we fell in love, you kept one foot out the door,” he stated matter-of-factly. “So, don’t blame me for the fact that our relationship failed. You’re the one who doesn’t let people get close to you.”

Hope stared at him, shocked that he would just toss all of that out so casually _in front of people_. She felt herself beginning to seethe, shifting anxiously on her feet when the heat in her chest made her feel like crawling out of her skin. “Oh, and you think that’s _irrational_ , is that it?” she hissed through her teeth mockingly, her lips curling back into a snarl. “You just can’t wrap your head around why it’s so _hard_ for me, can you?”

Hope let out a sharp laugh, bordering on unhinged. “People die on me all of the time, Landon!” she snapped, her forced smile doing nothing to negate the pain in her eyes. “When I let myself get attached, people disappear like smoke, and then I’m alone again. People have died _because_ of me, because of mistakes I made.”

“When I was younger, my love was a death sentence. Forgive me if I don’t hand it out liberally,” she continued. “And as soon as I finally let myself try to move on, Malivore tore everyone I loved out from under me.”

Landon cleared his throat, perhaps realizing he’d overstepped. “I know what it’s like to have no one—”

“Yeah, well you don’t know what it’s like to _lose_ everyone. You don’t know what it’s like to have everything pulled out from under you. You don’t know everything.”

This struck a nerve with Landon, his nostrils flaring with defiance. “Oh, you think your life’s so hard, don’t you?” he snapped. “Newsflash, Hope—you’re not the only one who’s had a tough life around here!”

Hope chuckled darkly. “Trust me, Landon, you’ve made it very clear to me that if we had a tough-life contest, you’d win,” she drawled, her voice cruel and mocking. “I'm not asking you to pity me, I'm asking you to stop acting like you _know_ more about me than I do.”

“And whose fault is it if I don’t know?” Landon huffed with a scowl, glaring furiously. “How do you expect me to know anything if you won’t tell me?”

“You’re not _entitled_ to know. I’m not obligated to _tell_ you anything, not anymore,” Hope hissed. She was fed up with the conversation at this point—the tension and frustration had become nearly unbearable. She felt like she was about to snap. She ran a hand roughly through her hair, breaking eye contact and glaring at the ceiling. “Maybe if you _listened_ instead of just trying to _fix_ me, you’d get it,” she muttered, almost as if she was talking to herself. “Or maybe if you paid attention half as much as you talked. Josie gets it, and I never had to _tell_ her.”

Landon’s face grew red, a vein popping out on his forehead. He looked nearly as angry as Hope felt. “Well, maybe you should try to date _Josie_ , then, if she’s so much better!” he blurted out.

Something twisted and broke in Hope, some last remnant of restraint. “MAYBE I FUCKING WILL!” she boomed, her voice so furious and packed with power that it was accompanied by an unintentional sonic boom. It was so powerful than Landon fell on his ass and skidded a few inches across the floor when the force of it knocked him off balance.

It was a threat. It was a warning that Hope was a powerful being on the edge of losing control.

Landon recoiled, shocked and confused. The silence fell heavily upon them. Hope’s heavy, ragged breaths were the only sound breaking it, except for a quiet cough that sounded from a few tables away, muffled in the way that people try to keep coughs quiet during a theater production.

Every pair of eyes in the room were fixated on them, but they didn’t even notice. They were too busy glaring at each other, the whole world tuned out in their rage. 

“What do you mean, _maybe you will_?” Landon said quietly, his voice laced with thinly veiled fury.

Hope’s glare slightly faltered, a conflict raging in her eyes. It’d been a while since she and Josie agreed to keep their relationship a secret, but two weeks hadn’t yet passed. 

But he was being a total dick. Should Hope just tell him?

Hope pressed her tongue into her teeth and sighed, immediately choosing to try to control herself instead. She’d promised Josie that she’d keep things under wraps. She wasn’t about to break that and blow their secret in front of the entire school just to get her point across.

Hope was about to say _Never mind_ and walk away when she felt Josie walk up behind her. Josie rested a hand on the small of her back.

Hope was astounded by how the touch alone made her suddenly calm down, her shoulders deflating.

She breathed in deeply through her nose. 

Vanilla.

Josie stepped slightly in front of Hope and stared Landon down, her expression cold. “She is,” she said simply. “Dating me, I mean. So, I’m going to have to ask you to back off.”

After a moment, Landon’s jaw dropped. 

He stared at Josie for a long time. Then, he stared at Hope for equally as long.

A pin could’ve dropped, and everyone in the cafeteria would’ve heard it like a gunshot.

Landon eventually looked back at Josie. “You’re joking,” he said humorlessly. Josie just stared back at him intensely, giving no indication that she was joking. His eyes shifted to Hope when he didn’t find what he was looking for. “She’s joking, right?”

Hope swallowed thickly. This was really happening, she thought to herself. And she had absolutely no idea how to react.

The longer she remained silent, the angrier Landon seemed to become. “You’re _dating_ my ex- _girlfriend?_ ” he spat, the fury shining through in his voice. The vein bulged out on his forehead once again.

Josie was the one to answer, again forcing his attention off of Hope. “ _I’m_ dating your ex-girlfriend,” she dropped, deadpan. “If you have a problem, take it up with me.” 

Josie didn’t wait for Landon’s response (it didn’t seem like it would be coming anytime soon, if the way he was gawking at them was any indication). She grabbed Hope’s wrist and began to drag her toward the door. Their exit was long overdue, in Josie’s opinion.

Hope was very disoriented by the turn of events, reality only setting in as she glanced around the room to see everybody she knew gaping at her in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for all of the feedback! I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think :)


	36. Betraying

Josie didn’t let go of Hope’s wrist until she managed to drag her halfway across the school and into an empty classroom.

Hope was still disoriented from her argument with Landon, so she could do nothing but stumble along behind Josie. It wasn’t until they were in the classroom that Hope seemed to realize where she was.

Hope immediately noticed that Josie seemed to be very angry. She was pacing the room, seething like she was seconds away from going on a rampage. Hope wouldn’t have been very surprised if Josie decided to light the school on fire again.

Josie was glaring at the walls and wouldn’t make eye contact. Hope prayed to God that Josie wasn’t angry with _her_.

After a long while of waiting for Josie to say something, Hope decided to attempt to break the silence. She cleared her throat. “Josie, are you okay?” she asked carefully.

The question seemed to snap Josie out of it. She turned to stare at Hope so sharply that Hope flinched. Josie raised an eyebrow. “Am _I_ okay?” she asked, in disbelief. “Are _you?”_

Hope frowned. That didn’t answer her question. “Uh,” she grunted, awkwardly rubbing at the back of her neck. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Josie sucked in a deep breath, apparently putting in a lot of effort to try to calm herself. “Hope, I’m _so_ sorry,” she blurted out after a moment, pouting in a way that made her look truly apologetic.

Hope recoiled, her brow furrowing with confusion. “What?” she replied, the word a bit harsh because of her surprise. “Why? It’s not _your_ fault.”

Josie’s pout only intensified. “I should’ve stepped in sooner,” she spat, like she was scolding herself. “I just—I didn’t know if you’d want me to get involved, or if it was a conversation you needed to have—”

Hope shook her head frantically, frowning. “Jo, stop, it’s okay—”

“It’s _not_ ,” Josie interrupted, her voice firm like she was determined not to let Hope minimize things. Josie’s eyes darkened and she scowled, like she was recalling the earlier argument. “I can’t believe he said those things to you. I almost lit him on fire.”

Hope blinked. She couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit at the thought of that. It would’ve been even more dramatic than how the conversation had actually ended. “I mean, _I_ almost lit him on fire before he started speaking,” Hope admitted shyly.

Josie bit her lip, scanning Hope up and down. “Yeah, I know,” she replied, slightly amused. “You were sort of… mouthing the first syllable of _ignalusa_.”

Hope felt a blush rise to her cheeks. She hadn’t realized that. “Oh,” she muttered, awkwardly shifting on her feet.

Josie seemed to not notice her awkwardness, continuing on. “I’ve never seen him act that way before,” she muttered under her breath, glancing away to start pacing again. “I don’t understand it.”

Hope shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against a desk. “I mean, he’s never gone that far before,” she replied absentmindedly, as though she were talking to herself. “But I guess there were times in our relationship where he was a bit… controlling.”

Josie halted in her tracks, turning to stare at Hope again. “What do you mean?” she asked with a frown.

“Well, I…,” Hope trailed off. Josie looked very serious and intense. Hope didn’t think it was a good sign. “It's not a big deal.”

“Hope,” Josie said sternly, crossing her arms over her chest. She raised an expectant eyebrow.

Hope gulped, but she didn’t stand a chance with Josie looking at her like that. “I just meant that there were times where he kind of tried to…,” she trailed off for a pause, trying to find the right words. “Overwrite me, I guess?”

This only seemed to confuse Josie. “ _Overwrite_ you?” she echoed, her brow furrowing. “What does that mean?”

Hope blinked. “Like, um,” she sputtered. “Like what he said back there, about changing my mind. He just tried to tell me what to think, or how to feel about things sometimes. With some things.”

“What things?” Josie drawled slowly, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Hope frowned. This conversation was definitely not going where she wanted it to go. She shook her head dismissively. “Never mind, it’s really not important—”

“ _Hope,”_ Josie interrupted, impatient.

Hope froze and paled at Josie’s tone. She hesitated. “Well, like when he met Roman. He got really jealous,” she started carefully, trying to avoid making Josie angrier than she already seemed to be. She stared down at her shoes before she continued. “And, I mean, I get that my history with Roman is… complicated. But I don’t blame Roman for everything. I forgave him—that took me a long time. I wouldn’t even say we’re _friends_ now, not really. We’re just civil.”

Hope paused, looking up from her shoes to find Josie still staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face.

Hope sighed, glancing away again. “But Landon didn’t want us to be civil. He wanted me to hate him,” she explained, her mouth twisting into a slight frown at the memory. “He tried _make_ me hate him. He was relentless about it. He wouldn’t leave it alone, even in public. And then, we were at one of the rehearsals for Miss Mystic Falls, and Landon just kept going on about how he didn’t know why I got so mad at him about the knife when I forgave Roman even though Roman had a hand in the death of my mother, and—”

Hope cut herself off, because she suddenly noticed the intensity of Josie’s scowl. There was a long pause, and Hope felt suffocated by the tension in the air.

“Let me get this straight,” Josie said slowly, something dangerous in her tone. “He made the death of your mother about _himself?_ He _exploited it_ to win an argument?”

Hope opened her mouth, but nothing came out of it. She felt sort of frozen. “Well, I mean, I _guess_ , but—”

“Alright,” Josie cut her off, her tone sharp and matter of fact. “I guess I do have to light him on fire, then.”

Josie immediately went to charge out the door, but Hope grabbed her elbow before she could pass. Josie slowed to a halt without much of a struggle, to Hope's surprise. “Okay, wait, _no_ ,” Hope said sternly. “It’s in the past, Jo. Way in the past. That argument was enough drama for today, let’s just leave it at that.”

Josie scoffed. They had a staring contest for a long moment, until Josie relented with a sigh and took a step back, looking very unhappy about it. “I can’t believe that I wanted to keep us a secret to protect that… that _asshole_ ,” she hissed angrily.

Hope swallowed thickly. She considered attempting to defend Landon, but she knew that it wouldn't go well based on the way Josie was looking at her. “Well, it doesn’t matter now,” she deflected instead. “The secret’s out.”

Josie blinked, her anger settling down over the course of a long pause, in which she seemed to be thinking. “Right. The secret’s out,” she repeated absentmindedly. Her eyes suddenly widened with panic. “Oh, _shit_. The secret’s _out_.”

Hope frowned. She shifted on her feet uncomfortably, her gaze faltering. “Are you—did you not want people to know?” she asked quietly, sounding a bit insecure.

Josie frowned. “What?” she replied, surprised. She ran a hand through her hair, looking very anxious all of a sudden. “No, babe, it’s not about that. It’s just… fuck, Lizzie’s going to _kill_ me.”

Hope recoiled, confused. “What?” she asked, as though that were absurd. “No, she won’t.”

Josie gave her a look. “She _will_ , Hope,” she said, with the utmost certainty.

“Josie, Lizzie isn’t going to be mad that we’re together,” Hope insisted. “Lizzie just wants you to be happy.”

Josie shook her head impatiently, her eyes frantic. “No, you don’t understand,” she blurted out. “She’s going to kill me because she’ll be the last to know.”

Hope blinked, taking a moment to understand. “Oh,” she said simply.

Josie looked distraught. “Oh, God, she’ll be _so_ mad,” she lamented, turning away from Hope. She began to pace again, anxiously this time.

Hope cleared her throat. She frowned, upset simply because Josie was upset. “Jo—”

“I—I just… it’s one thing that I didn’t tell her, but for me to tell _other people_ first?” Josie rambled, looking more and more panicked by the second. Her pacing became faster, as did her breathing. She looked like she was about to start hyperventilating from the stress. “She’ll _never_ forgive me. She’s going to hate me—a-and I…”

Hope felt her heart begin to break in her chest. 

A panicked tear ran down Josie’s cheek, though she was still unable to meet Hope’s eye. Josie seemed incredibly distressed over this, and seeing Josie in pain made Hope, herself, panic. All Hope wanted to do was alleviate it at any cost.

And Hope knew the only thing that would alleviate it. Hope closed her eyes. “Jo, Lizzie already knows,” she blurted out before she could lose her nerve.

Josie didn’t reply for a long moment. Hope soon opened her eyes, unable to take the uncertainty of Josie’s reaction. She found Josie frozen on the spot, her lips parted in shock and her expression unreadable. “What?” Josie replied quietly.

Hope gulped, feeling a more potent panic start to swirl around in her stomach. “Lizzie,” she repeated. “She knows.”

Josie just stared at her blankly. “You told her?” she asked, her voice still unreadable.

Hope remained silent, but her silence was answer enough.

Hope was horrified when the blank expression on Josie’s face started to change into a look of betrayal. “Hope, why would you tell her?” Josie asked. “You specifically promised me that you wouldn’t tell her.”

Hope swallowed thickly. “I…,” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. She felt like the tension in the room was about to suffocate her.

Josie’s jaw visibly ticked. “How long?” she asked sharply.

Hope blinked, her throat tightening. “What?” she replied quietly, her voice sounding hollow.

Josie huffed out an impatient sigh, crossing her arms over her chest once again. “How long has she known, Hope?” she elaborated.

Hope just stared for a long moment, but she spoke when Josie raised an expectant eyebrow. "Since…," she trailed off, just to release a heavy sigh. "Since the day I talked to the monster."

The room fell silent for a long pause again. “You’ve been lying to me all week?” Josie asked, although it sounded more like an observation.

Hope opened her mouth, but, once again, nothing came out of it.

Josie’s nostrils flared with irritation at her lack of response. “How long were you going to lie me?” she challenged, her eyes starting to narrow into an accusatory glare.

“Josie, please—I didn’t _want_ to lie, I swear,” Hope practically begged, taking a step closer. “I just… I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Josie scoffed. “So, you just kept it from me,” she said, carelessly tossing her arms in the air to emphasize her point.

Hope hesitated, staring down at her shoes. “I… I’m sorry,” she whispered quietly, sounding and feeling a lot like a scolded child.

Josie frowned. “What else are you keeping from me?” she prompted, her jaw visibly ticking again.

Hope’s eyes widened, darting back up to stare at Josie, alarmed. “Wh-what?” she stuttered out. “Nothing!”

Josie raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really, Hope? Nothing?” she drawled dangerously. “Then why did Alyssa Chang just tell me that we have a truce I didn’t know about?”

Hope’s eyes widened and she sucked in a breath of air, like the question took her completely off guard. “Oh. I…,” she trailed off. She sighed and practically cringed at what she was about to say before she said it. “Jo, I _swear_ , I didn’t keep that from you on purpose. I just… I forgot about it.”

Josie scoffed out a laugh, staring at Hope, in disbelief. “You _forgot?”_ she echoed.

Hope gulped. “Look, I know that sounds bad,” Hope murmured miserably, practically folding in on herself. “But I really did forget—I-I don’t know, I guess it didn’t seem that important.”

“How is it not important for me to know that the girl I punched in the face thinks we’re civil now?” Josie asked, now sounding more disbelieving than angry.

Hope felt hot tears starting to gather in her eyes. “I… I’m really sorry,” she practically whimpered.

Josie faltered, shifting on her feet and breaking eye contact, like she didn’t want to see Hope distraught. She looked back at Hope and bit her lip like she was conflicted. Now that the anger had been wiped off her face, all that was left behind was hurt. “Hope, you broke my trust,” she stated quietly, like she was trying to make Hope understand.

Hope felt her heart truly break, then. She felt extremely ashamed of herself, especially because Josie looked so disappointed. She paled, her lower lip trembling.

Josie looked away from her again, like she couldn’t stand to see Hope in pain, either. “Just… I don’t know how I feel about this yet, okay?” she murmured softly, like she was trying to comfort Hope somehow. “I need to think.”

Josie only spared Hope one last glance before leaving the room.

* * *

Hope stared out at the lake.

She couldn't remember ever feeling more miserable in her life. (Well, okay, she definitely _could_ —she'd had a pretty tough life, after all. But, knowing that Josie was disappointed in her made her want to throw up.)

It wasn't even close to sunset, but Hope was still sitting on the dock and staring blankly at the horizon. There was a raven that kept swooping in circles through the air, and watching it was the only thing that could keep Hope's mind off of what happened.

The raven didn't seem to have any friends. Maybe that's how Hope would end up, she thought to herself. Alone again.

Hope's solitude was interrupted in the exactly the same way it always was interrupted lately. “What the hell are you doing, Hope?” Lizzie's angry voice called out from behind her. Hope could hear her equally-angry footsteps approaching. “Why is Josie pouting in my room at three in the afternoon, and why aren’t you consoling her?”

Hope remained silent, hugging her knees closer to her chest and pouting without turning around. Lizzie didn't seem to appreciate this, because she huffed and was quickly staring down at Hope from above.

Lizzie's eyes widened when she saw the look on Hope's face, like it was the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen. “Are you _crying?”_ she asked, her mouth agape in shock.

Hope angrily wiped her tears away, tilting her head down to try to make her hair cover her face. “No,” she snapped, the scratchiness of her voice making it sound extremely unconvincing.

Lizzie stared at her for a moment longer, still shocked. Then, she cleared her throat and plopped down on the dock beside Hope. “Alright, what happened?” she asked, sounding more determined than sympathetic. 

Hope sucked in a shaky breath. “I messed up, Lizzie,” she muttered miserably. “I think she hates me.”

Lizzie scoffed at that, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, right. That's literally not possible," she muttered. She pursed her lips, side-eyeing Hope suspiciously. “What did you do?”

Hope's lower lip trembled. “She found out that I was hiding that you knew about us,” she replied.

Lizzie recoiled, alarmed. “What?!” she practically shouted. “How?!”

Hope flinched at the volume of Lizzie's voice. “I told her,” she explained.

“What?!” Lizzie blurted out, even more affronted than before. “Why the _hell_ would you do that?!” 

“Because!” Hope snapped irritably, whirling on Lizzie. “She was stressed about telling you and—and, I don’t know, okay? It just came out.”

Lizzie gave Hope a look, like the solution to this problem should be obvious. “Well, then, tell her that I forced you to keep it from her!” she ordered.

Hope scowled. “But you _didn’t_ force me to keep it from her," she whispered sharply. "I _chose_ to do what you told me to do. I can’t dig myself out of this by lying _more_."

Lizzie's brow furrowed, as though that was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard. “You sure as hell can,” she replied petulantly.

“ _No,”_ Hope said firmly, glaring at Lizzie. “No more lying. I am done with it.”

Lizzie scoffed once again, sending Hope a challenging look. “Well, how are you planning to dig yourself out of this mess, then, huh?” she asked sarcastically. “By brooding?”

Hope groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t _know_ how to dig myself out of it, _that’s_ why I’m brooding!” 

Lizzie sighed deeply. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Hope,” she lamented.

Hope dropped her hands and turned to glare at Lizzie. "Lizzie, can you just leave me alone for once?" she snapped. "I'm really not in the mood."

Lizzie scowled. "No, I'm not just _leaving you alone_ ," she mocked. Hope frowned at Lizzie's borderline insulting impression of her voice. "Because you clearly need me. I know what you have to do.”

Hope's frown deepened at this, and she stared at Lizzie skeptically.

Lizzie just stared back, her scowl still firmly in place. “God, what would you even do without me, Hope?" she snarked. "Die alone?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aNgSt


	37. Painting

Josie successfully avoided confrontation for three days.

She was certainly avoiding Hope. But that was less because Josie was angry with Hope, and more because she didn’t know what to say to her yet. 

Part of Josie just wanted to forgive Hope and put everything behind them. Another part of her was still trying to understand why Hope had been so secretive. 

If it hadn’t been for Hope lying about Lizzie, Josie probably would’ve just shrugged off the thing with Alyssa. But, combined, it felt like too much to process.

Josie was a little bit worried that she might not know Hope as well as she thought she did.

Speaking of Lizzie, Josie had also been successfully avoiding her. (That was an impressive feat, considering the fact that they shared a room.) 

Josie hadn’t decided if was angry at Lizzie for hiding this from her, too. She simply hadn’t had the chance to consider it yet, since she was so preoccupied with worrying about Hope.

It was a cruel twist of fate when the one person Josie couldn’t manage to avoid turned out to be Landon Kirby.

Josie was rushing down the hallway, slightly late for class. Her lateness was strategic—it made it easier to be sure that she wouldn’t run into anyone she wasn’t ready to see—but Landon seemed to have stumbled upon her anyway. 

He called out from behind her. “Josie!” 

Josie immediately scowled at the sound of his voice. She didn’t even slow her stride. “Landon, you don’t want to try to talk to me right now,” she warned over her shoulder without even turning around.

Landon’s immortality must’ve at some point dismantled his instinct toward self-preservation entirely, because he chose to ignore this warning. Once again, he grabbed Josie’s wrist, forcing her to halt in her tracks.

_“Let go of me!”_ Josie shouted, spinning on her heel with unbridled fury in her eyes. She shoved Landon’s shoulder violently, sending him stumbling back a few steps. He released her wrist. 

A boy scuttled by on his way to class with his head down, probably scared that Josie might be homicidal again. Josie didn’t even spare him a glance, her glare fixated intensely on Landon. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” she spat. “This isn’t who I thought you were!”

Landon seemed to be taken aback by her anger. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, clearing his throat after a moment. “Josie, please,” he practically begged, staring at her with a pathetic attempt at puppy dog eyes. “It’s _not_ who I am.”

Josie scoffed at that, barely resisting the urge to throw a mocking laugh in his face. 

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so angry. It was as if a dam had broken. 

That’s how Josie knew it was hardly about Landon at all. It was more about Hope than anything else—it was more about the stress of not knowing where she stood with Hope and of not knowing what to do.

As annoying as Landon had been lately, Josie figured that she shouldn’t allow the murderous rage burning inside of her to take control. (Even if it would be _so easy_ for her to kill him; even if there would most likely be no consequences.) She shut her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to try to contain herself, her nostrils flaring from the effort.

When she opened her eyes again, Landon was staring back at her. He looked authentically scared. 

Josie barely stopped herself from simply spinning around and storming away without a word. “We don’t choose what counts toward who we are,” she hissed through her teeth, not finding an ounce of pity inside of her when she looked for it. She crossed her arms over her chest, her mouth contorting into a hostile scowl. “What do you want?”

Landon’s face fell. “I—I just wanted to apologize,” he started, his voice wavering. “I know I was—”

“Do you?” Josie cut him off, unenthused. “Do you know what you did wrong?”

Landon’s gaze faltered, and Josie felt another flood of rage as she realized that he didn’t seem to know what he was apologizing for. “I—”

“You _humiliated_ her,” Josie growled, her upper lip curling back into a snarl as she took a threatening step forward. “You backed her into a corner _in front of everyone._ ”

Landon gulped. “Listen, Josie, I don’t know what came over me,” he blurted out, his eyes frantic. “I don’t know why I said all that stuff. I think the monster did something to me.”

As a reflex, Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion. When she fully processed his words, she failed to hold back her laugh this time around, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’d probably want to blame it on a monster, too, if I ever acted like that,” she deadpanned, already turning to walk away.

Landon moved quickly to step in front of Josie before she could walk away. “I mean it!” he continued desperately. Josie’s hand twitched as she resisted the urge to blast him with a spell. “I—I didn’t feel like I had control over myself. I’ve never been that angry before—I felt unhinged.”

Josie stared at Landon blankly, blinking a couple times. Her anger shifted as it occurred to her that he might be telling the truth, at least partly. She recalled Alyssa's words— _'the things I said about her Dad were out of line, even for me.'_

“ _Please_ ,” Landon begged, literally folding his hands in front of him like he was praying for her to understand. “Haven’t you ever done something you regret?”

Josie physically flinched in response to the question, her jaw tensing as she took a step back. She remained quiet for a long time, staring at Landon, attempting to read him. 

Landon just stared back at her, apparently becoming more and more self-conscious the longer it took her to respond. 

Josie cleared her throat uncomfortably, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know the answer to that,” she said simply, with very little inflection in her voice. She bit her lip and sighed. “We both know this isn’t about me, Landon. I can’t make Hope forgive you. If you want forgiveness, give her space.”

Landon frowned, like that wasn’t at all what he wanted to hear. “For how long?” he practically whined.

Josie’s jaw visibly ticked. She was now attempting to balance her annoyance with a little bit of pity. “I don’t know,” she answered on an exhale, feeling exhausted. “At least a few weeks. Maybe longer.”

Landon’s frown deepened. He almost looked like he was about to cry, so Josie glanced away. “I don’t think I can just sit around knowing she’s mad at me and do nothing,” he said, his voice drenched in self-pity. “It’s so painful. I feel like I need to do something to make things right.”

Josie frowned. She paused for a long moment before she answered, her eyes glazing over like she was thinking of something else entirely. “The more you push her, the more she’ll withdraw,” she eventually explained, now sounding a bit distracted. “That’s just how she is. You need to let her come to you.”

Josie cleared her throat, seeming to come back into the moment. 

She looked back at Landon to find him staring at her hopefully, and she frowned. “And, I’m sorry, Landon, but you need to make peace with the fact that she might not,” she stated bluntly.

Landon pouted and opened his mouth like he was about to say something else.

Josie interrupted before he could. “I have to go,” she said quickly, already side-stepping him to continue making her way down the hallway.

He didn’t try to stop her this time.

* * *

Josie had always had a bit too much empathy.

As much as she didn’t entirely forgive Landon, she couldn’t help but think about the position he was in. He wanted to apologize, but there was no way to do that and give Hope the space she needed at the same time.

Josie wasn’t particularly concerned about him, though. It was more about how his plight most likely resembled Hope’s.

When it came down to it, Josie and Hope went to the same school. If Hope had really been trying to find Josie, she would’ve by now. 

Josie realized that it wasn’t a coincidence that she hadn’t run into Hope at all in the past few days, or that Hope hadn’t been lurking around trying to catch her as soon as they got out of class. 

Josie had asked Hope for space. Hope was trying to respect that.

And Hope would probably continue to respect it indefinitely if she thought that it was what Josie wanted. No matter how miserable she’d be in the meantime, desperate for Josie’s forgiveness.

  
So, Josie decided that she would talk to Hope, even though she didn’t entirely know what to say. (Because, in all reality, Josie knew that more time would not help her narrow down what to say, and it wasn’t like she could avoid the confrontation forever.)

That’s how Josie found herself knocking on Hope’s door that night.

It took Hope a while answer, to the point where Josie seriously considered knocking again. She worried briefly that Hope might not even be there. 

But Hope pulled the door open rather abruptly a moment later, looking slightly disheveled and disoriented. 

Hope had a thin streak of black paint on her cheek. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused—and watery, Josie noted with a frown, like she may have been crying at some point.

Josie didn't like the thought of that at all.

Hope froze when she realized that Josie had been the one knocking on her door. “Josie,” she breathed. She looked shocked, almost as if she had been thinking that she’d never see Josie again. “Hi.”

The corner of Josie’s lip quirked up into a tense smile, which disappeared only a moment after it manifested. “Hi,” she echoed simply, her expression unreadable. “Can I come in?”

Hope blinked and shifted on her feet awkwardly, suddenly looking a bit panicked. “I—uh,” she stuttered, nervously glancing over her shoulder. She brought a hand up to rub at the back of her neck, inadvertently smearing another line of black paint across her collarbone along the way. “I mean, I was kind of in the middle of…,” she trailed off aimlessly.

Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion. She didn’t even attempt to hide her frown. 

It almost seemed like Hope was about to tell her not to come in. Did Hope not even care about the fact that they’d been distant?

Hope seemed to notice the look on Josie’s face, and she scrambled to react to it. “Wait, I mean, yes,” she corrected herself quickly. “Of course you can.”

Josie looked at her skeptically, but Hope pulled the door open further to punctuate the statement.

Josie walked in. She was immediately confronted by the fact that the room was much messier than usual. 

A canvas was mounted in the dead center of the room, but Josie could only see the back of it from the door. There were bottles of paint haphazardly spread on the floor around it. 

“Were you painting?” Josie prompted, walking a little bit closer to the bed to try to get a look at the other side.

Hope spun from where she’d just shut the door behind them. “Wait, don’t look at it!” she yelped frantically. 

Josie froze in her tracks, staring at Hope, looking alarmed.

“It’s, uh… I’m not done,” Hope explained awkwardly, nervously wringing her hands together in front of her.

Josie frowned. “Oh,” she said, unable to keep herself from sounding slightly disappointed.

Hope frowned back at her. “Wait, don’t be sad,” she pleaded, taking a few tentative steps closer. “I’ll show you when it’s done. I just want it to be perfect.”

Josie studied Hope carefully for a long pause—long enough that Hope began to feel a little bit self-conscious and averted eye contact. Josie sighed. “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t show me things unless they’re perfect,” she said firmly.

Hope blinked. She wasn’t entirely sure that they were talking about paintings at all, now. “Well, I—”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Lizzie knew?” Josie interrupted.

Hope fell into silence. She was right—Josie wasn't talking about paintings. She was just diving right into it.

Hope had known that they’d eventually have to talk about this, of course. Knowing had done nothing to help her prepare for it.

Josie frowned when Hope failed to respond. “Were you scared of how I'd react?” she prompted, her tone steady and calm. She took a slow step closer, like she was scared Hope might run away if she moved too quickly. “Or were you worried that it would change my opinion of you?”

Hope stared down at the floor, ashamed. “A little bit of both,” she muttered quietly. “And a little bit of neither.”

Josie’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”

Hope let out a defeated sigh, deflating. She made eye contact again, her eyes pleading. “I wanted to tell you, Jo,” she replied. “I just… you seemed so happy. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Josie’s brow furrowed at that. “I'm only disappointed because you lied to me,” she explained, a bit of frustration leaking into her voice.

Hope suddenly looked a lot like she was about to cry. “Please don’t hate me, I love you,” she blurted out gracelessly with a desperate pout.

Josie choked on whatever she was going to say next, her eyes widening. “What?!” she yelped, shocked. She gaped for a moment before she recovered. “I could never _hate_ you, Hope,” she stated sternly, like just the idea of it had thoroughly offended her.

Josie’s reply didn’t seem to reassure Hope very much at all. Her pout didn’t lessen in intensity whatsoever.

So, Josie retaliated with her own pout. “Stop giving me that look, it’s so unfair,” she complained. “How am I supposed to stay mad at you while you’re giving me puppy dog eyes?”

Hope pouted even harder, offended herself. “I’m not giving you puppy dog eyes,” she practically whined.

Josie gaped in shock for a moment at the self-evident lie, but then she scoffed out a laugh and fondly rolled her eyes. It successfully broke some of the tension. "I don’t _hate you_ , Hope," she said with a pointed look. "I obviously still love you. I'll always love you."

Hope had the audacity to let out a sigh of relief. She visibly relaxed, as though she had honestly believed that Josie might hate her. “Okay, good,” she whispered, almost like she was talking to herself.

Josie walked over to Hope’s desk and plopped down in her chair, feeling too exhausted to stand for any longer. She ran a hand through her hair with an anxious frown. “It’s just…,” she trailed off, biting her lip and looking up at Hope. “Lizzie’s my sister. I really wanted to be the one to break it to her.”

“I know, Jo,” Hope muttered miserably, taking a step closer. She knelt down in front of Josie, resting her hands on Josie’s knees and staring up at her. “I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean to tell her, I swear. She caught me in a lie. She outright asked me if we were together—I didn't know how to deny it.”

Josie’s lips parted, frankly shocked by the position. Hope was literally begging on her knees for Josie’s forgiveness, and Hope didn’t even seem to realize it. 

Josie couldn’t help but feel much more inclined to forgive her. Instinctively, she reached out to lay her hand over Hope's where it was resting on her knee. 

When Josie took her hand, Hope felt like she could breathe again.

Josie chewed on her lip and thought for a moment before she responded. “I guess I’m just confused about why you were talking to Lizzie about us in the first place,” she admitted, her expression much softer now.

Hope opened her mouth to reply, but she snapped it shut just as quickly and blinked sharply a few times instead of speaking.

Josie bit her lip once again. “I mean, I know she can be kind of... invasive,” she continued, thinking aloud. “But it usually isn't hard to deflect her attention. Why couldn’t you just change the subject?”

Hope tensed, her mouth twisting into a frown. Her gaze faltered. “Because,” she said vaguely after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. 

Josie raised an eyebrow at the evasive answer, her gaze honing in on Hope's evasive body language. “Because?” she echoed, clearly suspicious.

For a moment, Hope looked like a deer caught in headlights. Then, she sort of shrank back into herself, staring intently at the wall. “Because,” she said under her breath, miserable. Her next words came out in a mumbled rush. “You’re all we talk about.”

Josie blinked. Her head cocked to the side, her brow furrowing with confusion. She must not have heard that right, she told herself. “What?” 

Hope released a frustrated sigh, biting her lip and reluctantly meeting Josie’s gaze. She cleared her throat and tried to force herself to seem confident, even as she felt her cheeks beginning to burn. “You’re all we talk about,” she repeated, slightly more coherent.

Josie only looked even more confused at this. “I… don’t understand,” she said slowly. “Why?”

Hope aimed an exasperated glare at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact when Josie raised an expectant eyebrow. “ _Because_ , Jo,” she borderline whined, wishing that they could just get this conversation over with already. “Lizzie knows how I feel about you.”

Josie’s eyes widened, like the implications had just hit her. She stared blankly at Hope for a moment, apparently in shock. 

Josie's stunned silence made Hope feel a bit panicky, so she scrambled to fill it. "She’s been pushing me to do something about it for a while now," she added. Hope cringed when she realized that that little tidbit was unnecessary. It only served to make her feel more awkward. 

Hope eyed the door, wondering if she might be able to get away with making a run for it.

Josie cleared her throat pointedly after a pause, blinking away her shock and swallowing thickly. “You... talk to Lizzie about me?” she murmured shyly, her cheeks reddening as she glanced down at her lap. 

Hope’s cheeks were far more flushed than Josie’s. She felt mortified, to the point where she figured that she might just have to flee the country. “Well, yeah,” she admitted quietly with an awkward shrug. 

Josie was blatantly staring at her now. Hope could feel Josie's eyes on her, but she felt completely incapable of meeting them and found herself looking everywhere else. 

Hope worried that her face might burst into flames at any moment.

“You’re embarrassed,” Josie observed matter-of-factly, apparently surprised by the revelation.

Hope frowned. “Well, yeah,” she mumbled, as though it were obvious. “Can we stop talking about this?" she practically begged, her voice still hushed. "Please?"

Josie leaned forward in a flash and pulled Hope into a kiss. She tangled a hand in the hair at the base of Hope’s neck. 

Hope yelped and froze for a moment, having not expected the kiss whatsoever. It wasn't long before she was closing her eyes and relaxing into it with a content sigh. 

Hope absentmindedly marveled at the fact that she'd never get bored of kissing Josie.

Hope trailed after Josie's lips when she pulled back. “What was that for?” Hope whispered without opening her eyes, breathless.

Josie smiled. “You’re cute,” she answered softly.

Hope scowled, her eyelids fluttering open. She stared for a moment before she responded, bemused. Josie giggled, her eyes glinting mischievously. 

“You say that just to spite me at this point,” Hope accused, not ultimately sounding that upset about it.

Josie just continued to grin at her. 

Hope scanned Josie’s expression for a long pause, thinking. She seemed to make a decision and stood up, spinning around to walk toward the canvas. “Come here,” she called over her shoulder, her voice trembling slightly. "You can look at it."

Josie’s lips parted in shock. She didn’t move until Hope turned back around to look at her expectantly. 

“Really?” Josie asked. She cleared her throat the moment she realized that she sounded _way_ too excited. Josie stood and took a couple hesitant steps forward. "I mean, are you sure?" she asked before she made it around the canvas, her voice far more controlled. "I didn’t mean to pressure you. You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to."

Hope didn't hesitate before she nodded. “I’m sure,” she confirmed. "I wanna show you."

Josie looked like Christmas had come early. She nearly squealed with excitement (a fact that Hope would certainly tease her for later), rushing to make it across the room and stand beside Hope.

"Just, uh, keep in mind that it’s not done yet,” Hope blurted out nervously, only moments before Josie laid eyes on the canvas.

Josie froze the moment she saw it, the excited smile on her face slowly falling slack.

Josie had assumed that it would be something Hope found beautiful—maybe the sunset on the dock, or the stars.

Josie hadn't at all expected that it would be a portrait of herself. More than that—a portrait of herself from Hope's perspective, Josie’s eyes closed and her lips parted mid-spell, their glowing hands clasped above the Mora Miserium. 

It appeared to be a snapshot in time, the bluish-white tendrils of the protective barrier only halfway curled around the Sandclock. Hope must’ve been nearly finished, Josie figured—only the top corners were still blank at the edges. 

Everything else was vivid enough that Josie could _feel_ how much the memory meant to Hope—how her mind seemed to have held on to the scene in excruciating detail.

Josie absentmindedly wondered why Hope had put so much emphasis on the fact that it was unfinished.

"Hope...," Josie breathed on an exhale without looking away.

Hope wrapped her arms around Josie's waist from behind, even though she had to stand on her tippy toes to look at the canvas over Josie's shoulder. “I was going to give it to you when I finished,” she murmured, the words muffled against Josie’s shoulder. “I didn't think you'd come by today.”

Josie stared at the painting for a moment longer, unable to tear her eyes away from it. "Hope, I...," she trailed off, too shocked to know what to say.

Hope smiled and pressed a kiss against Josie’s shoulder through the fabric of her shirt, hugging her a bit closer. "I just remember you saying that you couldn’t look past the visions of doom," she explained quietly. “And I wanted you to see how I saw it—how I see _you.”_

Josie spun around in Hope’s arms, finally able to take her eyes off of the painting. She wrapped her arms around Hope’s neck and just stared, feeling her eyes start to water.

“Do you like it?” Hope asked nervously, looking slightly worried—probably because she couldn’t tell if Josie was crying happy tears or sad tears. “I mean, I know that you might not want to be reminded of everything—”

“I love it. It's beautiful,” Josie cut her off, gently stroking Hope’s cheek. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before. Thank you, Hope. It means so much to me.”

Hope smiled at her, relieved. “You’re welcome,” she replied. She looked at Josie hopefully, the corner of her lip twitching from a little bit of uncertainty. “Are we good?”

Josie nodded frantically. “Yes,” she reassured Hope, leaning in to give her a chaste peck on the lips. “Just promise me that you won't keep me in the dark like that in the future?”

Hope nodded back just as frantically. “I promise,” she said, her tone determined and serious.

Josie smiled. She leaned in for a deeper kiss. She almost let herself get carried away, but she pulled back again when a thought suddenly occurred to her. “There’s only one more thing I don’t understand."

Hope frowned slightly, her eyes still closed like she wanted to get back to making out as soon as possible. “What?”

“Why Lizzie has been talking to me about you so much and pretending not to know,” Josie replied, the confusion shining through in her voice.

Hope jerked back, her eyes abruptly snapping open. “Wait, what?” she yelped. “Lizzie has been talking to you about me?”

Josie nodded slowly. “All week,” she confirmed with a frown.

Hope scowled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update. I got a bit sidetracked with the start of school. 
> 
> It's a bit longer than usual, I hope that makes up for it. :)


	38. Unmasking

Sometimes, Lizzie Saltzman truly impressed herself.

Things usually turned out the way she wanted them to, after all.

That had little to do with luck, and more to do with the fact that Lizzie Saltzman was (more often than not) prepared. 

Thoroughly prepared.

Unusually prepared, at times, to the point where some people might call it obsessive.

But Lizzie had little concern for what others might call her. Obsessive or not, she knew herself to be goal-driven and ambitious. She simply didn’t half-ass things.

That’s why she almost always got what she wanted.

Hope only won Miss Mystic Falls with Lizzie’s guidance and Lizzie’s planning and Lizzie’s binders upon binders of research. Otherwise, Hope’s attempt would've been futile. 

Because winning Miss Mystic Falls had little to do with being pretty, or charming, or talented.

Miss Mystic Falls was a mind game, and Lizzie was good at those.

You didn’t need to  _ be _ the most pretty, the most charming, the most talented to win Miss Mystic Falls. You just needed the judges to  _ believe _ that you were the most pretty, the most charming, the most talented to win Miss Mystic Falls. 

That was a different thing altogether.

Lizzie knew the pressure points of the judges. She knew how to make the judges perceive Hope in a certain light; how to market Josie as Hope’s closest competitor, just to pull that out from under them and leave Hope as the obvious choice.

She knew how to conduct a play for the judges, without them even realizing that they were in the audience.

Lizzie Saltzman was smart.

People often underestimated how smart Lizzie Saltzman was, in fact. 

She counted on that.

Most people assumed that she was a bit socially oblivious—disinterested, absentminded and distracted.

They assumed that she was blunt and direct, but not toward any particular ends—simply due to an unfortunate lack of tact; a lack of filter.

They assumed that empathy was a complete enigma to her—that she was incapable of understanding their perspectives because of her brain chemistry.

They knew that she was smart enough to make witty retorts, but they certainly didn’t think that she was smart enough to plant seeds in their heads. That would take a certain level of foresight and understanding—it would take empathy, albeit selective; it would take a filter, a separation between what she thought and what she said.

As far as they knew, Lizzie Saltzman had none of those things.

But Lizzie Saltzman as everyone knew her was a far cry from Lizzie Saltzman as she actually was.

The  _ real _ Lizzie Saltzman was observant and calculating—the puppeteer behind the act.

The real Lizzie Saltzman was clever. She made plans and wrote scripts. She knew people well—she could read them like no one else, when it was relevant to her. 

She was adept at adjusting in the moment and falling back on improv when people did the unexpected.

Lizzie Saltzman put on a mask when she woke up in the morning, and she showed people only what she wanted them to see.

If people believed that she was oblivious, that she had no filter, they would never suspect that something she said might have some complicated ulterior motive. They just took things at face value.

That made them much easier to manipulate.

Very few people ever saw through it—with the exception of Penelope Park, who played the same game with a little bit less deception.

That's why Penelope Park hated her. 

And, honestly, Lizzie’s motives had been more selfish in the Penelope era. She wasn’t like Penelope, bending the wills of those around her just to help Josie grow. 

Back then, Lizzie only used her unique talents to try to get herself awards and titles and boys.

But things were different now, ever since she’d set her sights on the poor Hope-less Mikaelson pining over her sister from afar. Lizzie had  _ grown. _ Her methods were similar, but her motives were  _ noble _ —charitable, even.

She’d decided to use her talents for good. Specifically, she’d decided to use her talents to manipulate Hope into a loving relationship with Josie.

It was in Hope’s best interest, it was in Josie’s best interest, and, most importantly, it was in Lizzie’s best interest. Josie made Hope happy, Hope made Josie happy, and a happy Josie was generally less likely to lose her shit and try to absorb Lizzie again.

Hope and Josie’s relationship was simply a win-win for everyone involved. Lucky for them, they had Lizzie to force them into it.

God knows that they’d have never gotten it done on their own. Even for Lizzie, it was excruciatingly difficult to get them together.

In hindsight, it made sense that things took so long even under the pressure of Lizzie’s forceful hand. Hope and Josie were the most inhibited people Lizzie knew.

Goddamn introverts.

But the story was now coming to a close, and Lizzie could taste her success like a fine wine.

All Hope had to do was give Josie the painting, and their relationship would blossom into its golden age, free from all of the pressure that Lizzie may or may not have created on purpose.

Give it five years (assuming they’d dodge the Merge), and Lizzie expected to find herself standing in front of all of their friends in a pretty dress she picked out herself, delivering her maid-of-honor speech.

Just the idea put a pleasant smile on Lizzie’s face, halting her pen in its tracks. She closed her eyes to try to picture that dress, resting her journal on her lap, seated cross-legged on her bed. 

Perhaps she could give Hope and Josie an abridged version of her journal as a wedding gift, as a testament to her matchmaking process.

The door suddenly slammed open so fast that it hit the wall with a  _ bang _ .

Lizzie jumped, her eyes snapping open. For a moment, she feared that her life was about to end at the hands of some monster. The monster drama had been suspiciously tame for a while now, after all. 

She looked up to find Hope and Josie both glaring intensely at her instead, their arms folded over their chests. 

They simply stared at Lizzie for a long pause with eerily similar disgruntled frowns on their faces. They didn’t appear to intend to say anything anytime soon.

Lizzie blinked and raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Hello?” she prompted impatiently.

Hope wasted no time. “You’ve been talking to Josie about me behind my back,” she accused matter-of-factly, giving Lizzie a glare as if she were daring her to deny it.

Lizzie stared back at Hope with a small frown. “And?” she replied, like she was confused about why Hope was stating the obvious.

The casual confirmation caused the tension in the room to skyrocket. Hope’s jaw ticked and her glare intensified, but Lizzie just stared back at her blankly.

Josie cleared her throat awkwardly, effectively getting everyone’s attention. She glanced at Hope, as if to make sure that the tribrid was okay, but then she gave Lizzie a stern look. “And you’ve known that Hope and I were together for days now, but you made me believe that you had no idea.”

Lizzie sighed dramatically, shutting her notebook and setting it down gently on the bed. They were going to have this conversation now whether she liked it or not, she realized. “Actually, I knew last week, as soon as Hope and I did community service,” she corrected, her tone lacking inflection. 

Hope recoiled in shock. “What?!” 

Lizzie shrugged once again. “You were giving off both the honeymoon vibe and the hiding-something vibe,” she drawled, punctuating the statement with a roll of her eyes. “It wasn't that hard to figure out.”

Hope stared at Lizzie for a long pause before she spoke again. “So,” she began, in disbelief. “All of that time you were just pretending not to know,” she said, more a statement than a question.

“I’m sorry, are we taking turns stating the obvious?” Lizzie asked, standing up from the bed and crossing her arms over her chest. “I’ll go next. You two have been in love for years, and you would’ve just kept staring from afar and passing bird boy back and forth if I hadn't stepped in.”

In lieu of a response, Hope gaped in shock.

Josie replied for her. “It seems like you did more than just  _ step in _ , Lizzie,” she snapped, exasperated. “You knew that we were already together this whole time and you’ve been interfering in our relationship anyway.”

Lizzie scoffed. “ _ Interfering _ ?” she echoed, like she was insulted. “I gave you a romantic kayaking escapade. I locked you in a closet so that you could make up and make out. Out of the goodness of my heart,” she said with an affronted gasp, laying a hand over her heart dramatically. “And also because I thought it was hilarious irony, but that’s beside the point.”

Hope bit her cheek and huffed out a sharp sigh through her nose. “That’s  _ not _ beside the point, Lizzie!” she hissed through her teeth, her disbelief overtaken by fury. She took a threatening step closer. “That’s exactly the point!”

Josie reached out and placed a hand on Hope’s arm, since the tribrid looked like she was moments away from committing murder (not for the first time this month). The touch had the desired effect—Hope’s glare faltered and some of the tension in her shoulders relaxed. 

Josie made up for the lapse in Hope's glare with one of her own, fed up with the conversation. “Why did you do it?” she asked simply, her tone curt and to-the-point. “Were you just messing with us because you were bored?”

Lizzie scowled at the accusation, her eyes darkening. “No,” she replied. “Obviously not."

Both Hope and Josie stared at Lizzie expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, authentically annoyed that they didn't get it. "I was messing with you so that you’d have an artfully crafted love story to tell your grandchildren," she explained, as though it should be obvious. "You’re welcome."

Hope pouted, confused, the expression so exaggerated that there was no way she could be consciously aware of it.

“I don’t understand,” Josie muttered quietly, just as confused as Hope.

Lizzie sighed, as though having to elaborate was extremely inconvenient for her. “Alright, fine. I'll break it down for you,” she snapped at Josie, clearly not thrilled to do so. “Did I lead Hope to believe that I was oblivious even though I knew about your relationship? Yes. Why? Because Hope believing that you two had a secret made it way easier to get you both into a closet and onto a kayak. She was too busy scrambling to hide things to ask questions.”

Josie frowned, trying to process all of this information. Hope recoiled, even more shocked than before.

Lizzie continued with another dramatic roll of her eyes, diverting her attention to Hope. “Hope, did I go to Josie behind your back and deliberately manipulate her into seeing you for the soft, whipped, useless, love-sick puppy that you are so that she’d fall even more deeply in love with you?" she drawled. Hope snapped out of her shock and scowled at the accusation, but Lizzie continued before she could interject. "Absolutely. Why? Because I knew that you'd never be able to express those feelings for yourself, unless I gave you a little push.”

Hope's mouth opened but no words came out of it. She was also apparently finding this new information difficult to process.

All three of them stood in awkward silence for a long time. 

Lizzie eventually broke the silence with a bored sigh when she realized that she'd left everyone speechless. "Look, Hope," she started, almost patronizing. "I told you that I would play Fairy Godmother, and you should know by now that I don’t half-ass things. I wasn’t just going to  _ get you two together. _ I was going to carefully develop your romance into the love story I wanted it to be, even if it meant continuing to sculpt it after it was already established—kind of like Aphrodite.”

This added information didn't help Hope to come up with something to say, leaving her even more speechless than before. Josie didn't seem to be faring any better.

Lizzie chuckled, apparently unbothered by the whole thing. “Honestly, Hope, it’s like you don’t even know me at all,” she snarked.

Lizzie grabbed her notebook and fled the room before Hope could snap out of her shock enough to attempt murder. 

* * *

Once again, Hope Mikaelson found herself sitting on the dock, brooding.

She attempted to skip a rock, but the splash in the water reminded her of that time Lizzie threw her sandwich into the lake to punctuate their fake date.

Hope couldn't help but wonder how much of their friendship was a blatant lie.

It was the worst combination of depressing and confusing, and Hope calculated that she was going to need at least a few days of solitary brooding before she could even begin to sort it all out.

Someone apparently didn't want to give her that alone time, though. Hope scowled when she heard footsteps approaching from the woods behind her after only an hour or two. "Lizzie, if that's you, go away," she snapped over her shoulder without turning around, feeling the fury rising like bile in her throat.

The footsteps halted abruptly.

The voice that sounded after a long pause was not the one Hope expected.

"It's not Lizzie," Josie said quietly. 

Hope whipped around immediately, her eyes widening. 

"Oh," Hope said dumbly as she took in the sight of Josie, a little bit embarrassed about her hostility.

Josie shifted on her feet, glancing away without making any attempt to come closer. "Can I join you?" she asked, shyly tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Or do you want to be alone?"

Hope's heart warmed at the sentiment. She spared Josie a quick smile and nodded her head to indicate that Josie could join her.

Josie came closer and sat down beside Hope, leaving a fair amount of space between them.

Hope frowned at the distance and automatically scooted closer until their sides were brushing up against each other.

A light blush rose to Josie's cheeks in response to the gesture, but she smiled. “Hey,” she said, gently nudging Hope's side with her elbow.

"Hey," Hope replied, her voice lacking inflection. She stared down at her lap, trying to keep the sadness from showing on her face.

It clearly didn't work. “Are you okay?” Josie asked carefully, biting her lip.

Hope sighed, dropping the act and frowning miserably. “I feel stupid,” she admitted in a mumble.

Josie instantly shook her head. “You’re not,” she replied, her voice stern.

It didn't comfort Hope very much. “She played me,” she mumbled once again.

"She played us both," Josie corrected, her voice still just as stern.

Hope sighed again, running a hand through her hair and massaging her temple to alleviate the stress. "I thought she was my friend," she muttered, almost whining and clearly resentful. "I trusted her. I really thought that she was on my side. I feel so _stupid."_

Josie frowned, staring at Hope sadly. "Hope," she began. She reached out, pulling Hope's hand away from her face and intertwining their fingers. "Look, love, don't get me wrong. I'm furious about this, and I'm not trying to excuse what she did.  But... she didn't do all of this just to hurt you." 

Hope blinked rapidly when she realized that her eyes were probably a bit watery. She refused to cry about this. "How do you know that?" she mumbled.

Josie pouted. "Because I know her," she answered with a little shrug. She squeezed Hope's hand. "You're one of the few people she cares about. She wouldn't have put so much effort into trying to make you happy if you weren't."

Hope glanced at Josie out of the corner of her eye before staring down at her lap again. She wiped a tear away almost violently before it could fall.

"The way she went about this was... misguided," Josie murmured. Hope scoffed a little bit at the understatement. Josie scrambled to continue. "And you have every right to be mad at her. _I'm_ mad at her.  But, please, don't convince yourself that she doesn't care at all."

Hope bit her lip, glancing at Josie again just to find her staring attentively. Hope cleared her throat. "Okay," she whispered.

Josie allowed her lips to slowly curl up into a little smile. "Besides," she started, nudging Hope in the side again to try to diffuse some of the tension. "For what it's worth, all of her scheming did end up with us locked in a closet and stranded on a kayak. Those are some of my favorite memories with you."

Hope chuckled slightly, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, me too," she murmured in response.

Josie beamed at her, glad to see that her attempt to cheer Hope up seemed to have worked a little bit.

Hope cleared her throat, feeling the sudden urge to change the subject. "Speaking of scheming," she started, her voice much less vulnerable that before. "D id you find whatever you were looking for in the library?"

Josie blinked in surprise. “Oh,” she replied, her expression unreadable. “Yeah, about that. I’m going down to see the monster.”

Hope scoffed out a laugh, thinking that Josie was joking. When Josie didn't laugh with her, Hope's face fell. “No,” she replied, stern. “No, you are not.”

Josie frowned. “Hope, I think I know what it is,” she insisted. “I just have to make sure before we can get rid of it.”

Hope scowled. "Okay, well," she started. "I’m going with you, then."

Josie shook her head, frowning herself. “No, you’re not,” she replied.

“Yes, I am,” Hope retorted defiantly.

Josie let out a frustrated sigh. “Hope,” she began, her tone warning. “If the monster's what I think it is, I don’t think it'll talk to me unless I’m alone.”

Hope's eyes narrowed. “Well, I don’t want you talking to it at all,” she said dismissively. “You could get hurt, Josie.”

"I know what I’m doing, babe," Josie insisted, pleading. "I'm not going down unprepared. I have a spell. Trust me."

“You know that I trust your judgement, Jo,” Hope began, pleading herself. “And I know that you can take care of yourself, but if I let you go down there alone and something happens to you, I…,” she trailed off, swallowing thickly and glancing away with a nervous frown. “Can’t you just give me the spell and I'll—”

“Absolutely not,” Josie cut her off, her tone leaving no room for argument. Hope's gaze immediately snapped back over to her. Josie gave her a stern look. “Even if you use the spell, you've talked to it before. It might still have power over you. We’re not risking that.”

Hope scowled. "Well, I don't want it to have power over _you_ ," she snapped. 

They had a short stare-off.

Hope faltered first, her mouth falling into a frown. "How certain are you that the spell will work?" she asked quietly, not sounding happy at all.

“Pretty certain,” Josie replied.

Hope's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “So, not 100% certain, then?”

Josie gave Hope a pointed look. “Nothing is 100% certain,” she snarked, a little bit impatient now. “But I'm not being careless about this. I’ve done my research. I’d bet money that it's what I think it is. You need to trust me, Hope.”

Hope scowled and attempted to stare Josie down. It once again wasn't very effective—Josie just stared back at her with a raised eyebrow, daring her to keep arguing. Hope averted her gaze. “Fine,” she relented with a huff. “But I don’t like this. At all. And if you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m coming after you.”

Josie smiled victoriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is this good? idek. anyway, here you go
> 
> (PS, this is not bipolar disorder. The writers portray Lizzie's behavior more like she has a misdiagnosed cluster B personality disorder so that's how I'm writing her.)


	39. Inspecting

Josie stormed down to the dungeon like she was on a mission—and, truly, she was. A mission to avenge Hope Mikaelson.

If the world darkened around her, she hardly noticed. She had one goal in mind, and no intent to turn back until she achieved it. 

The way the light seemed to falter, the way the world seemed to get narrower with every step she took—those things did little to deter her.

She didn’t hesitate until she made it into the room that held the monster.

Even then, she barely paused to gag at the sight of the thing—at its leathery green skin, or its greasy, straggly hair. She didn’t even flinch at its stench. 

All in all, it was exactly what she’d been expecting.

Josie scowled, already fed up with the conversation before she started it. She pulled her bag off of her shoulder and started to unzip it with purpose. “What’s your name?” she asked without looking up.

The thing spun around abruptly, its joints cracking from the speed of the movement. It apparently hadn’t noticed Josie’s presence before she spoke. 

It snarled, slinking closer to the bars to inspect her as if she were prey. “I have no name,” it hissed dangerously under its breath, its eyes already twinkling with excitement at the interruption of its solitude.

Josie rolled her eyes. She yanked a mirror out of her bag and pointed it at the monster in one smooth motion.

The thing howled in agony and recoiled, huddling in the corner of the cell to evade the mirror’s line of sight.

Josie hummed, raising an eyebrow and shoving the mirror back into her bag, as if her suspicions had been confirmed. “I think you might be wrong about that,” she mused, almost casually.

The monster didn’t seem to like that comment at all. 

Briefly, it gave her backpack a wary glance. It seethed and became emboldened when it concluded that she wouldn’t aim the mirror at it again, stepping closer. 

“I know  _ your _ name,” it growled, furiously pacing the cell but still keeping its distance. It spat out its next words like an insult. “ _ Josette Saltzman _ .”

Josie felt a sharp pain at her temple that prompted her to glance up at the monster. She watched it in silence for a long pause, curious. “And what else do you think you know about me?” she drawled, the tick of her jaw revealing her irritation.

“I know that you’re the weakest link,” the monster dropped, its voice sing-song and manic—as if it were certain that its words had power. It pinned Josie with a predatory glare. “That you’re the most fragile person here—the one who  _ broke _ .”

“Hm,” Josie hummed in response, looking entirely unbothered—bored, even. She gave the monster a critical once-over. “Who told you that?”

The monster froze and blinked, an ugly frown slowly growing across its face. It seemed disoriented, like her response had surprised it. “Everyone believes it,” it barked in reply, its upper lip curling back into a snarl.

Josie just pursed her lips, shrugging. “Not Hope,” she deadpanned with the utmost certainty.

The monster growled, pouncing on the bars with a  _ crash _ . Apparently, it didn't like being surprised. “That’s not what she told me,” it claimed in a hiss, sounding furious and desperate.

Josie raised an eyebrow and scoffed out an unimpressed laugh. “Bullshit,” she accused with an unaffected, mocking smile, amused by the monster’s weak attempt at manipulation.

The monster’s eyes narrowed—its chest heaved with ragged, angry breaths. It remained silent, pinning Josie with a scathing glare.

Josie maintained her composure despite the monster’s obvious hostility. “So, you _believe_ that I’m the weakest link, then,” she mused almost absentmindedly, zipping her bag and slinging it back over her shoulder. “I’m guessing that’s why you tried to lure me down here.”

The monster vibrated with rage, infuriated by her casualness. “I succeeded,” it growled, its voice low and threatening.

Josie scoffed. “Not in the way you intended,” she deadpanned with a scowl.

The monster reflected her scowl with a much less attractive scowl of its own.

Josie seemed unaffected once again, which only infuriated the monster more. 

Josie pursed her lips. "Landon recommended that I ask you about what Hope said to you," she said. "But I know him. He’d never make that suggestion himself. No without... encouragement."

Josie and the monster glared at each other for an extended silence. 

Josie continued when the monster opted no to object. "I didn't take your bait. I'm not here to talk to you about Hope," she spat. "I’m here to find out how you managed to plant that seed in his head."

“And how do you know that this is not exactly what I intended?” the monster retorted with another scowl, pacing and twitching erratically.

“Because that's not how you operate,” Josie said without hesitation. 

The monster fell silent again, halting in its tracks and glaring at her with furious, heaving breaths.

Josie stared back at it. “You made a mistake,” she stated with certainty. “You thought that I’d be insecure about how Hope sees me. The way Hope is insecure about how my Dad sees her; the way Landon is insecure about how Hope sees him.”

The monster stilled, its erratic breathing descending into silence.

Josie nodded, her suspicion confirmed. “I’m no stranger to manipulation,” she said. “You wanted me to believe that I could get something from you. Insight—security. Because then I’d let you in.”

The monster lunged toward her. “I can manipulate you whether you  _ let me in _ or not!” it practically screeched, insulted by her implication that it could not.

Josie ignored the claim, not allowing the monster to intimidate her. “Who are you?” she asked calmly.

The monster snarled, its eyes reddening. “I am no one,” it reiterated simply, its voice devoid of feeling. A dangerous smirk grew over its face. “I’d much rather talk about you.”

The monster stepped closer, getting as close as possible and holding a hand up through the bars. Josie flinched and stumbled back a step, her eyes clenching shut when she was hit by a sudden headache.

"Interesting," the monster drawled slowly, studying Josie carefully. "You have a duality few account for. A mask, like Hope. You either have too much empathy, or you have none—you allow your fear and insecurity to overwhelm it."

Josie's breathing became labored and she took another step back.

"You're afraid to die—you feel the Merge looming over you like an expiration date. And yet you're ashamed of the desire you have to live, because it implies Lizzie's negation. Dark Josie wasn't only due to the black magic—it is a temptation you battle with always, to shut off your empathy—there would be no conflict, no pressure without it—" 

The monster cut itself off, its face twisting suddenly with confusion. "What are you...," it trailed off, its eyes suddenly widening, flames raging behind them. It lunged at the bars desperately, seeming almost scared. “DON’T—”

Josie’s eyes snapped open, some blackness swirling in them that hinted at the remnants of Dark Josie. “ _ Animus obstructionum, _ ” she chanted.

The monster hissed sharply and jerked backward, cowering in the corner and hiding its face as though it had been burned. “What have you done?” it screeched, its vocal chords grating violently.

Josie rolled her shoulders with a sigh, shaking off the monster's influence. “I’m not here to talk about me,” she stated simply.

The monster didn't turn back to look at her, still cowering in the corner. "Then you should go," it spat over its shoulder, as if it were an insult. “I’m done with this—I want to see the phoenix again. I'm bored. He was more interesting.”

Josie raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to laugh. “Ouch," she drawled sarcastically, stepping closer as if _she_ were the predator. "Good thing I didn’t come here to entertain you." 

The monster grunted dismissively instead of replying.

Josie let out a mocking scoff. "You’re not _bored_ ," she snapped. "You're scared. You’d be running if you weren’t in a cage. I know exactly what you are.” 

The monster tensed, but it didn't turn around. “Enlighten me,” it hissed, its voice laced with a warning.

Josie openly laughed, as though the monster had just told a joke. " _Enlightenment_ ," she drawled. "That's it, isn't it? That's your name."

The monster let out a low, rumbling growl. It only spoke after a long, dangerous silence. “That may be how humans refer to me,” it muttered resentfully. “But I have no name.”

Josie glared at the back of its head, unamused. “How they refer to you _is_ who you are,” she replied. “The only trace of you is a name that refers to a human’s defense against you—how does that feel?”

The thing lunged at the bars violently once again, practically frothing at the mouth in a rage. “You think I _care_ what record is left of me?” it shouted, its voice cracking. It sucked in a deep breath, closing its eyes as though it was trying to calm itself. “Humans know nothing—humans don’t even know themselves.” 

Josie just stared at it blankly, looking like its words weren't even registering with her. She frowned, almost like she pitied it.

This seemed to enrage it even further. "But you’re no human," it spat furiously. "You’re a  _ witch _ . Not just any witch—a _siphon_ witch. You take what’s not yours. We’re alike, you and I.”

Josie didn't even flinch, just staring at it with the same pitying frown. “We’re nothing alike,” she stated without inflection.

The thing writhed against the bars, looking desperate now, like it was clinging to its last chance. “You’re _bored_ ,” it claimed, its voice faltering with fear. “Just like me.”

Josie shook her head, almost sadly. “The only thing I'm bored with is you,” she said simply.

The thing deflated. “You’re not what I expected,” it muttered, defeated.

“You expected me to be shattered,” Josie observed. “My experience didn’t make me fragile. It made me grow."

The monster retreated, taking a few steps back from the bars, like it was just now realizing that Josie was a threat.

Josie let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through her hair. "You underestimated me. Now I have your name,” she said matter-of-factly. It gave the monster a pointed look where it stood in the shadows. “That means that I can get rid of you. And I will, for what you’ve done to Hope.”

“I don’t need to read your mind to know you care for her,” the monster grumbled. “What if I told you that I still have power over her? That I could  _ end _ her?”

“I’d tell you that I have every reason to believe that you’d lie," Josie said without hesitating. 

The monster remained silent, staring at Josie warily from the shadows.

Josie smiled, pleased. “You didn’t expect that, did you?” she asked, her tone mocking.

“I expected you to let me out,” the monster said.

Josie's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And why couldn’t you get Landon to let you out?” she prompted.

“Landon is weak, but he is obstinate,” the monster revealed. “I can’t push people far from their impulses. It was simple to play on his insecurities; it would be simple to make him bow to me. But to make him approach the bars and unlock them? He doesn't have the courage." 

Josie frowned. "And you thought that I would?"

"I expected that you'd be obedient," it admitted. "Your father and Landon seemed to believe that you are prone to defer to the judgement of others and obey, even if it is a danger to yourself. I assumed that they had a more objective understanding of you—that Hope’s view was tainted by rose colored glasses."

Josie frowned. "Their view of me is outdated," she said. "Hope knows me more than anyone. She's seen parts of me that even Lizzie hasn't."

"I can see that now," the monster spat with a scowl.

“And what was the plan, then?” Josie prompted, not fully expecting the monster to answer. “After I let you out?”

“To take Landon,” the monster answered. "And deliver him to Malivore."

Josie's brow furrowed with confusion. “What was the point of messing with everyone else's head?” she asked.

The monster huffed out a sharp sigh, like it was inconvenient to have to explain. “It would be easier to walk out of here with Landon if your leaders could be incapacitated with just a word from me,” it drawled.

Josie blinked, shocked that the monster was being so forthcoming with this information. “Isn't it a bit egotistical of you to explain your plan to me, if you claim to be no one?”

“You are the end of the line,” the monster spat with a scowl. “If you intend to banish me, secrecy means nothing. I have already been defeated.”

* * *

Hope was pacing outside of the door that led to the dungeon, debating with herself about charging down there, when Josie came through it.

Hope halted in her tracks, a relieved sigh bursting through her lips at the sight of her. She tensed again immediately after, her eyes wide and alert. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Josie smiled fondly. "Yes, I'm okay," she replied.

She stepped forward and pulled Josie into a tight hug. "You took too long," she murmured into Josie's shoulder, breathing in deep to ground herself with Josie's scent. "I was worried."

"I'm sorry, love," Josie whispered.

"It's okay," Hope whispered back. She pulled back after a long pause, grabbing Josie's hands in her own instead of stepping away. "How'd it go?" she asked, still concerned. 

"It went well," Josie answered with another fond smile. "I was right. It's a Satori."

Hope nodded. "Oh," she breathed. "That's good. I think," she murmured. She blinked. "What is that, again?"

Josie laughed. "It's a kind of Japanese yokai," she explained. "It can read minds."

Hope's brow furrowed. "Oh," she said dumbly.

Josie giggled again at the confused look on Hope's face. "I know how to banish it," she said. "Will you help me?"

"Of course," Hope replied instantly, staring at Josie with love painted all over her face. "I'd help you with anything."

Josie rolled her eyes, completely unable to fight the grin spreading across her face. "Hope, you're doing it again," she teased.

Hope frowned. "Doing what?" she asked, her tone defensive.

"Giving me puppy dog eyes," Josie said with a pointed look and a raised eyebrow.

Hope blushed furiously, remembering that she was supposed to be a badass tribrid and not a lovesick idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello,
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I've been overwhelmed with school.
> 
> It's looking like there will be one more chapter and then an epilogue. I'll try to get those out as soon as possible.


	40. Banishing

They moved in sync, as though they’d done rituals together a thousand times before. But it had always kind of been that way, Hope realized, doing magic together. 

There was never a disconnect. There was never a question of who was meant to do what—never any hesitation. Just give and take, push and pull like a tide. 

Josie lit a match and used it to light a candle. Hope spread some herbs in an intricate circle on the floor.

They worked in peaceful, focused silence. Now that they were closer, things flowed even smoother.

Glancing up at Josie in the candlelight, Hope wondered how she’d managed to stay in denial about her own feelings for so long. Josie was glowing—her eyes dark and sparkling in the candlelight.

She was beautiful.

Her depth; her quiet strength. 

Hope’s fingers twitched as she stared, a physical manifestation of her desire to paint the image before her. 

Hope doubted that she’d ever capture it all, no matter how hard she tried. So much about Josie was too difficult to capture. 

Josie’s intelligence wasn’t exactly visually obvious, but it was always there right under the surface—always hinted at in the way she looked at people, or the way she stared off into space with a furrowed brow when she was thinking.

So much about Josie was _active_. She was always living far in the past or planning for the future. Capturing it all in a static moment seemed nearly impossible.

But Hope wanted to try. Hope wanted to sit at an easel and try to capture Josie on a canvas for hours. She wanted to keep trying and trying again until she got it perfect. 

Hope couldn’t even recall ever wanting something so badly.

She wanted to stare into Josie’s eyes until she cracked the code of how to capture them—until she could finally map out every facet of Josie Saltzman’s mind.

Because then she’d know exactly how to paint her. 

Hope felt herself getting closer, sometimes—setting one more puzzle piece into place. Josie was an open book, in a way, if anyone cared to try to read her. 

But there was nothing simple about her. If she were a book, her plot would dense and intricate. There was a whole expansive world inside her head. 

Part of Hope wanted to explore all of it.

But another part of Hope was trying not to be too intense.

Which wasn't an easy task. With Josie, Hope often caught herself forgetting that the world was in motion.

Being with Josie made the world narrow in on itself. It made Hope forget just about everything else. 

She forgot about whatever drama was going on at the moment. She forgot about monsters, about Malivore and the Necromancer and Landon and whatever the hell was in the basement. 

All she could think about was trying to make Josie smile.

Time acted strangely, as if the present was expanding and the past and the future were forgotten. Everything became almost painfully vivid. 

It was like magic. 

Josie made Hope feel safe, and that was sort of magical in and of itself given the circumstances.

Hope sometimes wondered if Josie felt all of that, too. It was difficult to tell.

Hope licked her lips. “Jo, can I ask you something?” she asked, her voice a bit scratchy from disuse.

Josie glanced up from where she was setting a candle on the ground, surprised that Hope chose to break the silence. “Sure,” she replied with a warm smile. “What is it?”

Hope cleared her throat, glancing away. “What do you know about it?” she asked quietly. “The monster, I mean.”

Josie’s expression softened. “I researched it a bit,” she replied. “But there’s not a lot of information left behind. They’re hard to get away from—I guess they can read minds. There’s a lot of stories about them finishing people’s sentences.”

Hope scoffed lightly, like that description was amusing to her. “Read minds,” she mused, a bit resentfully. “That seems like… an understatement.”

Josie studied Hope for a long moment in the candlelight—took note of the frown on her face. “I know,” she murmured gently. “That’s why I needed to talk to it.”

Hope frowned, staring down at her lap.

“It’s more than just reading minds,” Josie continued, lighting another candle. “It can see everything in your head. Your weaknesses. How you perceive people.”

Hope frowned, glancing up again. “How you perceive people?” she echoed, confused.

Josie nodded. “It had an impression of me before it met me,” she said, her voice casual like they were talking about the weather. “From everyone it talked to. That’s why it tried to lure me down there—it thought that I would be the weakest link.”

Hope scoffed instantly, causing Josie to look at her, surprised. “Well, that’s stupid,” Hope said, looking irritated at the suggestion. “You’re clearly the strongest link.”

The corner of Josie’s lip quirked up into a little smile. She licked her lips. “Well, that’s not how people see me around here, I guess,” she observed with a shrug.

Hope scowled, like that statement personally offended her. “It’s how  _ I _ see you,” she mumbled defiantly, looking down to tug at a broken seam in her skirt.

Josie watched Hope carefully, her expression radiating affection. “I know,” she murmured softly. “It mentioned that. It said that you had rose-colored glasses.”

Hope raised an eyebrow. “My glasses are clear. I’m right,” she retorted, a bit childishly. “It’s obvious. You’re the only one who could figure it out, aren’t you?”

Josie’s gaze faltered and she blushed, reaching up to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. “I…,” she trailed off, her lips twisting into a pout. “I just got lucky.”

Hope frowned. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Jo,” she said softly.

Josie squirmed, uncomfortable under the spotlight. “Okay, okay,” she said dismissively. “We can talk about this after we get rid of it.”

Hope quirked an eyebrow, but she let Josie change the subject. “Okay. How do we do that?” she asked.

Josie cleared her throat and gestured at the herbs. “It’s a banishing ritual,” she said, extending her hands to offer them to Hope. “Nothing too complicated. Follow my lead.”

Hope automatically reached out to link Josie’s hands with her own, like it was second nature. 

“Ready?” Josie prompted.

Hope nodded.

“Repeat after me,” Josie commanded, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath right before she began to chant the incantation.

Josie said the incantation alone at first—“ _ Speculum manifestum, perdere tenebris.” _

Hope closed her eyes and joined in, her voice slightly misaligned— _ “Speculum manifestum, perdere tenebris.” _

On the third chant— _ “Speculum manifestum, perdere tenebris.”— _ their voices met in perfect harmony.

Doing magic together was and always had been an intimate experience. It was a lot like playing music. The way their voices started off a bit out of sync but then fell into synchrony; the way they tuned into the same time.

Words lost their meaning and reduced to only their syllables in repetition. Their minds joined together in the moment, reverting to a blissfully silent and intense focus.

They didn’t notice the wind sending Josie’s notes flying around the room in a mini tornado. They didn’t notice the flickering of the candlelight. They only noticed the feeling—the mounting tension in the air as they continued to chant.

And then, suddenly, the tension broke.

They fell into complete silence, the need for the spell absolved.

Hope cleared her throat after a moment. “That’s it?” she asked, surprised.

Josie opened her eyes and released Hope’s hands. She frowned at the state of her notes, cursing herself for leaving them lying around. “That’s it,” she confirmed, deciding to ignore the mess for the time being. “It should be gone.”

Hope blinked. “That’s…,” she trailed off, glancing around at the candles and the pages scattered around the room. “Anticlimactic, I guess? I thought it would put up more of a fight.”

Josie smiled, apparently amused by the comment. “Bizarre, isn’t it?” she murmured to herself, busying herself by reaching out to gather the herbs into a neat pile. “That you can have power over something just by knowing its name?”

Hope frowned, staring at Josie and willing her to elaborate.

Josie swallowed thickly, biting her lip. “Sometimes the things that have the most power over us are the things that we can’t quite distinguish from ourselves,” she murmured thoughtfully, glancing at the herbs again as an excuse to avoid eye contact. “But those things aren’t really us. They’re something else. As soon as you look at them, you disarm them.”

Hope watched Josie carefully, but Josie continued to avoid eye contact. Hope thought that she looked kind of shy—like she was revealing a part of herself that she didn’t show to many people.

Hope let the silence extend for a long moment before she replied. “I’m so proud of you,” she said, her tone serious and intense.

Josie stilled instantly, her gaze darting up to stare back at Hope. “What?” she asked, taken off guard.

Hope reached out and grabbed Josie’s hand. “You’ve been through hell,” she stated. “You really have. But you grew from it. That’s the only reason you had control over this thing. And I think that’s beautiful.”

Josie blinked, gulping nervously. “Hope, shut up,” she mumbled without any bite, glancing down at her lap with a heavy blush.

Hope scooted closer. “I mean it, Josie,” she insisted. She reached out to life Josie’s chin, staring intently into her eyes. “I think you’re beautiful. I really do.”

Josie’s breath hitched sharply in her throat, and for a long moment she failed to respond. “Hope…,” she breathed, overwhelmed. Her mouth opened but no words came out of it before she closed it again.

Suddenly, Hope seemed to remember something. She debated with herself, conflict raging in her eyes until she reached a decision. “I want to show you something,” she said, abruptly standing up and walking over to her desk.

Josie blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in the conversation. She rose to her feet and followed, watching as Hope pulled something out of her desk drawer.

“What’s that?” Josie asked curiously.

Hope spun around, allowing Josie to look at the recorder in her hands. “Uh, I kind of recorded myself,” she explained awkwardly. She glanced off to the side, thinking. “Well, Lizzie recorded me, I mean. Secretly. It’s a long story.” 

Josie frowned at the reminder of her sister’s slightly invasive tendencies.

“Come here,” Hope said, moving to sit on the edge of the bed and patting the space beside her.

Josie obeyed without much protest, sitting next to Hope and eying the recorder curiously.

Hope gulped, looking increasingly nervous by the second. “I was sort of talking to crystal-you,” she admitted, much to Josie’s surprise. “Which is a little embarrassing. But I guess I just want you to know how I feel about you.” 

Before Josie could reply, Hope pressed play.

* * *

_ Hope yelped, the wind knocked out of her with an  _ oof _. " _ _ How’d you get in here?" she gasped. _

_ “Through the door,” Lizzie deadpanned.  _

_ “What do you want, Lizzie?” Hope demanded, clearly irritated. _

* * *

Hope hit the pause button, her cheeks already painted with a heavy blush because of what she knew was to come. “Um… sorry, let me just fast forward a bit,” she muttered awkwardly.

* * *

_ “He just seemed stable,” Hope said. “Like he’d be there if I needed to talk to someone, like there was no way he’d leave me for someone else. Everything about it felt safe.” _

_ “And you don’t feel safe with me?” Josie asked. Her voice wasn’t accusatory—it was only curious. _

_ "I mean, I do,” Hope replied, sounding a bit uncertain of herself. “But, at the same time, I feel out of control. It’s disorienting... not in a bad way. It’s like I don’t mind you taking control because I trust you. It’s kind of like a rollercoaster.” _

_ A pause. Then—“Actually, it’s just like that,” Hope said, her voice suddenly a bit excited, as if she’d had a revelation. “It’s like the way you feel when you’re right before the drop of a rollercoaster, and you know that you’ll be completely out of control and falling in a second, and you know that your body was never designed to do that, but you just barely stop yourself from having a heart attack because you remind yourself that an engineer built this thing and that you’re very unlikely to die, because if it wasn’t safe they would’ve already been sued for all they’re worth,” she blurted out in one breath. _

_ Another pause, then—“Uh... wow,” Josie responded. "So, wait," she said slowly. "In this metaphor, I’m the engineer? _

_ Hope burst out laughing. “Yes, and you’re  _ so  _ good at it,” she answered. “And I trust you with my life." _

* * *

Hope hit the pause button a little bit too violently, actively fighting off a furious blush. “Um,” she mumbled after a brief pause, unable to make eye contact. “Okay, that was way more embarrassing than I thought it was going to be.”

Josie giggled. The sound forced Hope to glance up at her. Hope was surprised to find Josie looking back at her with a cheesy grin, like Hope was the most adorable thing in the world.

Josie scooted a little closer, brush her fingertips over Hope's cheek. "That was the cutest thing I've ever heard," she murmured, unable to stop smiling.

Hope just blushed even harder, bowing her head and staring at her lap. "Okay, well," she mumbled. "Now that you know, let's just never speak of this again."

Josie chuckled but wasted no time before pulling Hope into a reassuring kiss.

Hope tensed for a moment, but then she deflated with a sigh and began to kiss back.

Josie sucked Hope's bottom lip between her teeth. Hope gasped, the sensation overwhelming her.

Josie pulled back just an inch, her eyes still closed. “I love you so much,” she whispered.

Hope tried to calm her breathing to no avail. “I love you, too,” she replied breathlessly.

Josie's eyes fluttered open, her pupils blown to the point where Hope could barely distinguish her irises. "You should lie down on the bed for me," she purred, the seductive tone in her voice leaving no room for misinterpretation.

Hope stilled, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. "I—yeah?" she sputtered out, her blush returning with a vengeance. 

Josie hummed, her eyes drifting down to look at Hope's lips. "Please," she murmured. "I'd love to show you how I feel about you."

Hope swallowed thickly, her mouth going dry just imagining what Josie could possibly mean by that. She cleared her throat. "Um...," she muttered. "O-okay."

Josie's eyes darkened.

Hope moved, then, scooting herself back on the bed and reclining back on the pillows.

It was seconds before Josie was on top of her, kissing her even harder than before. 

Hope struggled to keep up with Josie's pace, palming at Josie's hips until Josie grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.

Hope gasped when Josie pulled back, moving down to kiss her neck—apparently trying to paint it with bruises, which Hope fleetingly realized would fade anyway.

Hope's brow furrowed in concentration, her chest heaving with rapid breaths. 

Then, Josie bit down on Hope's neck a little roughly, and before Hope knew it she had Josie on her back.

Hope blinked, the reaction so instantaneous that she'd even surprised herself. 

Josie's smirked up at her after a moment, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Y'know," she murmured playfully, her hands slowly trailing up Hope's sides. "I can still top you from down here."

Hope just stared down at her, taking a moment to catch her breath. 

Josie only allowed her that one moment, though, leaning up to kiss Hope's neck again. Josie slipped her hands under Hope's shirt and dragged her nails down Hope's back.

Hope sucked in a sharp breath in response, tensing like a bowstring. "Jo," she breathed.

"Hm?" Josie hummed, obviously distracted.

Hope swallowed thickly. "Touch me," she begged. "Please."

Josie smirked.

Suddenly, Lizzie barged into the room and flipped on the light, staring down at something on her phone. She began to speak without even looking up. “Josie, did you know that you can get ordained online and be certified to host a legal marriage ceremony?” she asked.

Hope squeaked as Josie jumped so hard that she practically launched Hope right off the bed. “Jesus Christ, Lizzie!” Hope yelped, rubbing at her side and scrambling to her feet. “Knock!”

“Oh, my God!” Lizzie spun around to face the door she’d just come through, covering her eyes like she'd just witnessed something grotesque. “Put on clothes immediately!”

“We’re wearing clothes,” Josie blurted out with a heavy blush, pushing herself up to stand on the opposite side of the bed. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively and stared down at her feet. "All of them."

“I’m sure that’s not usually the case,” Lizzie drawled sarcastically. 

“ _Lizzie_ ,” Hope hissed furiously, trying to ignore the way her face was burning.

“Stand six feet apart so that there is room for Jesus between you and I can turn around,” Lizzie commanded over her shoulder, her hands still covering her eyes tightly.

"There's literally a bed between us, Lizzie, just turn around," Hope mumbled gracelessly, seriously wishing that she could just jump back into Malivore to avoid the mortification.

Lizzie's eyes widened as she glanced around at the room, which was covered with candles and scattered papers. “What the hell are you doing to our room, Josie?” she demanded, horrified. “Turning it into some kind of… some kind of  _ sex _ playground?”

“No!” Josie yelped, shocked by the accusation and struggling to get her blush under control. “I—don’t be ridiculous! We were just doing a spell.”

Lizzie gasped, scandalized. “A  _ sex _ spell?”

“ _ No," _ Josie hissed under her breath, scandalized herself. Her jaw ticked and her nostrils flared with irritation. “Lizzie, stop it.”

"Well, I hope you’re both happy," Lizzie whined, ignoring Josie's denial. "I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at either of you the same again."

Hope rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic,” she muttered under her breath.

Lizzie gasped. " _I'm_ dramatic?" she echoed. She gestured at the room. "Take a look around at this candlelit date you're on, Hope."

"Lizzie, _stop it_ _,"_ Josie hissed again with a furious glare.

“Should I stop looking into getting ordained online?” Lizzie demanded, propping her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow in challenge. “Did you two already elope behind my back?”

"Lizzie, stop planning a wedding," Hope snapped, losing her temper. "I really think we should talk about the fact that you're a little bit too involved in our relationship."

Lizzie scoffed, as if that suggestion were absurd. “Please. Neither of you would’ve gotten over your fears of intimacy and gotten it on if I hadn’t been actively manipulating you,” she snarked, matter-of-fact. “You would've just played this will-they-won’t-they game until we were all geriatrics. You should be thanking me.”

Josie scowled and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Hope," she said darkly. "If we keep having this conversation I'll end up lighting her on fire."

"You're welcome, sister dearest!" Lizzie called out to their backs as Josie dragged Hope to the door by the wrist.

Hope followed Josie out the door and turned back to close it. She paused, sticking her head through the doorway. “Thank you,” she whispered reluctantly, with a heavy blush and an averted gaze. Then, she softly shut the door.

Lizzie grinned. She was pretty good at this, she thought to herself. She decided that next time she’d up the difficulty. Maybe she could convince Raf and Frodo to canoodle, now that they were both Hope-less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, right?—I finally updated 🙃
> 
> I know it’s been quite a while since the last update. Sorry about that. I got overwhelmed with schoolwork. Endings also give me anxiety. But here it is.
> 
> There’s going to be an epilogue which I’ll try to get out ASAP. The semester will be over within a week or two so I shouldn't have an excuse to procrastinate


End file.
